LB 
3218 

N2N2 


Southern  Branch 
of  the 

University  of  California 

Los  Angeles 

Form  L  1  I    -^J 


This  book  is  DUE  on  the  last  date  stamped  below 


JUL  2  2  mi 


Form  L-9-2/»12,'23 


I  S.3  I  5 


J  r. 


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School  Buildings  in  Nebraska 

The  illustrations  in  this  publication  have  not  been  systematically 
collected,  therefore  they  can  hardly  be  said  to  be  fairly  representa- 
tive of  the  school  buildings  in  the  state.  Requests  for  cuts  or  pho- 
tographs of  school  buildings  were  sent  to  all  superintendents  and 
principals  in  the  state  and  w^ere  published  in  the  Nebraska  Teacher. 
From  the  city  superintendents  many  cuts  were  received,  and  they 
are  used  in  this  volume.  County  superintendents  and  village  prin- 
cipals sent  in  many  photographs  of  village  and  rural  schoolhouses, 
fully  three-fourths  of  which  were  available  for  use,  and  half-tone 
reproductions  from  them  appear  in  this  volume. 

The  pictures  of  sod  schoolhouses  will  attract  instant  attention, 
but  we  hope  our  readers  will  not  jump  to  the  conclusion  that  they 
are  the  common  type  of  schoolhouse  in  this  state  or  that  they  are 
common  in  all  parts  of  the  state.  These  pictures  will  prove  as 
great  a  curiosity  to  many  of  our  readers  in  eastern  portions  of  the 
state  as  they  are  to  the  inhabitants  of  Greater  New  York.  As  will 
be  seen  by  Statistical  Table  No.  i,  in  the  back  of  this  volume,  there 
were  last  year  464  sod  schoolhouses  in  the  state  of  Nebraska  out  of 
a  total  of  6,773 ;  ^'^^  since  1893  the  number  of  "soddies"  has  been 
steadily  decreasing.  Very  few  of  the  next  generation  of  Nebras- 
kans  will  have  the  pleasure  of  attending  school  in  a  Nebraska  sod 
schoolhouse.  They  might  go  to  school  in  poorer  buildings  than 
one  built  of  sod,  however,  for  it  is  as  warm  in  winter  and  as  cool  in 
summer  as  any  ordinary  schoolhouse,  although  some  of  our  lady 
teachers  do  object  to  the  fleas  and  vermin  that  sometimes  infest 
such  a  building.  Many  of  our  sod  schoolhouses  are  well  finished, 
nearly  all  are  floored  and  plastered,  and  many  are  finished  around 
the  doors  and  windows  on  the  inside.  Slate  blackboards,  patent 
desks,  maps,  charts,  a  school  library,  a  globe  and  an  international 
unabridged  dictionary  may  be  found  in  many  of  them.  The  better 
class  of  them  have  shingled  roofs.  A  more  complete  description 
of  several  of  these  sod  buildings  accompanies  the  illustrations. 


8  SCHOOL  nUII.niNGS  and  grounds  in   NEBRASKA 

Some  parts  of  Nebraska  liavc  more  sand  than  wood  or  stone,  and 
so  have  the  children.  It  is  not  strange  when  we  consider  the  char- 
acter of  our  early  settlers  that  they  built  schoolhouses  when  they 
built  their  homes,  and  of  the  only  available  material, — the  sod 
of  the  prairie  and  sand-hill  toughened  and  bound  by  the  roots  of 
the  native  grasses,  cut  out  in  squares  and  laid  up  in  walls  two  feet 
or  more  in  thickness.  Nebraska  will  maintain  the  lowest  per  cent  of 
illiteracy  among  the  states  of  the  Union  if  it  is  necessary  to  educate 
her  chiUlren  in  dugouts,  soddies.  shanties,  and  log  huts  to  do  it. 

We  believe  the  rural  and  village  frame  buildings  illustrated  to  be 
fairly  representative  of  the  frame  buildings  throughout  the  state 
in  country  and  town  ;  and  the  high  school  buildings,  frame,  brick, 
and  stone,  are  an  evidence  of  the  pride  that  our  cities  take  in  their 
schools. 


DISTRICT  SCHOOL  No.  70,  HALL  COUNTY 


DISTRICT  SCHOOL  No.  51,  HALL  COUNTY 


DISTRICT  SCHOOL  No.  '>i,  CHERRY  COUNTY 


DISTRICT  SCHOOL  No.  CU,  R(KK  COUNTY 


SCHOOL    BUILDINGS    AND    GROUNDS    IN    NEBRASKA  II 

The  Country  School 

The  first  requisite  of  a  good  school  is  a  good  teacher,  it  is  true,  but 
the  best  of  teachers  may  be  considerably  handicapped  by  unfavorable 
environment,  while  the  poorest  teachers  may  do  better  work  if  they 
keep  school  in  a  well  constructed,  nicely  furnished,  well  equipped 
schoolroom. 

We  hear  much  of  the  improvement  of  m.aterial  school  conditions  to- 
day, compared  with  fifty  years  ago.      The  veterans  of  the  Civil  War 
compare  the  beautiful  brick  buildings  in  which  their  grandchildren  at- 
tend school  with  the  log  houses  where  they  sat  on  rough-hewn  logs 
with  their  faces  to  the  wall  and  their  backs  exposed  to  the  teacher  and 
the  long  horizontal  wood  stove  in  the  center  of  the  room,  in  the  '50's; 
but  these  comparisons  are  too  broad  and  sweeping.     The  beautiful, 
well  furnished  schoolhouses  of  stone  or  of  brick  in  our  cities  and  towns 
should  not  be  compared  with  the  log  schoolhouses  of  fifty  years  ago, 
nor  even  with  the  little  red  frame  schoolhouse  of  that  time.     It  is  true 
there  is  a  material  improvement  in  schoolhouses  generally,  but  the  im- 
provement is  greater  and  more  general  in  city  than  in  country.      In  the 
city  more  attention  is  now  being  paid  to  sanitary  conditions  and  meth- 
ods of  heating  and  ventilating,  to  lighting  and  seating,  and  to  improved 
blackboards  and  charts  and  better  maj  s,  adjustable  window  shades 
and  curtains  and  desks,  the  arrangement  of  corridors  and  wardrobes 
and  closets,  etc.      In  the  country  the  impxovement  is  less  marked. 
There  are  still  many  rural  district  schoolhouses  built  on  the  two-by- 
three  plan;  width  two-thirds  of  the  length,  a  single  room  without  entry 
or  vestibule,  two  or  three  widely  separated  windows  in  each  side,  and 
a  door  in  the  center  of  one  end.     The  blackboard  is  usually  plaster 
painted  black,  scanty  in  amount,  and  the  desks  are  double  patent  ones. 
The  wood-box  may  sometimes  be  found  in  one  corner  of  the  school- 
room as  of  yore,  but  filled  with  cobs,   though  more  commonly  the 
outdoor  coal  shed  takes  its  place.     Occasionally  both  are  lacking,  and 
the  coal  and  wood  or  cobs  are  dumped  on  the  bare  ground.     The 
pump  may  or  may  not  be  out  of  repair,  and  too  frequently  the  out- 
buildings are  the  same  dens  of  vice  and  hell-holes  of  contamination 
and  pollution  they  used  to  be.     Trees  and  shrubbery  are  too  often 
lacking.     These  sad  conditions,  though  not  universal  nor  even  gen- 
eral in  some  parts  of  Nebraska,  are  altogether  too  common.      They 
are  the  conditions  we  hope  to  improve. 


12  SCHOOL  DUILDIXCS  AND  GROUNDS  IN  NEBRASKA 

According:  to  the  School  Laws  of  Nehraska,  the  legal  voters  in 
tl'.c  common  school  districts  shall,  at  the  annual  meeting,  determine 
by  vote  the  number  of  mills  on  the  dollar  of  assessed  valuation 
which  shall  he  levied  for  all  purposes,  except  for  the  payment  of 
hontleil  indebtedness,  which  number  shall  not  exceed  twenty-five 
nulls  in  any  year.  A  part  of  this  twenty-five  mills,  not  in  excess  of 
ten  mills,  may  be  used  for  the  building,  purchase,  or  lease  of  a 
>choolhouse  in  the  district  when  there  are  no  bonds  voted  for  such 
purpose.  The  bonded  indebtedness  of  a  district  shall  not  exceed 
five  per  cent  on  the  dollar  of  the  assessed  valuation.  Property  in 
-Nebraska  is  asses.sed  at  so  low  a  rate, — one-sixth  or  one-eighth  its 
real  value, — that  these  limitations  often  work  a  hardship  on  the 
poorer  districts.  However,  it  costs  the  district  but  little  more  to 
build  a  schoolhouse  properly  heated,  lighted,  and  ventilated,  than 
to  construct  one  without  providing  for  these  essentials.  It  costs 
less  to  heat  and  ventilate  a  properly  constructed  schoolroom  than  to 
heat  a  poorly  constructed  one  with  no  provisions  for  ventilation.  It 
may  cost  the  parents  more  in  the  payment  of  doctors'  bills,  of  medi- 
cines, and  loss  of  school  attendance,  if  their  children  are  compelled 
to  attend  school  in  a  room  neither  heated  nor  ventilated  properly. 
It  may  cost  parents  more  for  oculists'  bills  and  eyeglasses  if  their 
children  sit  in  rooms  facing  windows  or  with  cross  lights,  or  with 
an  inadequate  amount  of  natural  light  or  with  the  same  supple- 
mented by  artificial  light,  than  if  they  attend  in  a  room  lighted  as  it 
should  be.  School  children  cannot  begin  to  do  the  amount  of  work 
in  a  schoolroom  improperly  heated,  lighted  and  ventilated  that  they 
could  do  in  a  schoolroom  with  these  conditions  as  they  should  be. 
This  is  not  theory,  but  a  matter  of  experience.  Neither  teachers  nor 
pupils  can  concentrate  their  attention  upon  the  matter  in  hand  as 
they  should,  in  an  uncomfortable  schoolroom.  These  poor  condi- 
tions may  not  result  in  the  general  breaking  up  of  the  health  of  the 
teacher  or  pupils,  but  they  may  result  in  a  gradual  impairment  of 
the  health  and  a  derangement  of  the  nervous  system  that  will  result 
in  permanent  physical  injuries. 

Teachers  generally  are  easily  influenced  by  their  surroundings. 
There  are  a  few  noted  exceptions,  Mark  Hopkins,  for  instance,  that 
simply  prove  this  rule.  A  log  might  serve  him  in  lieu  of  a  modern 
schoolroom,  but  it  will  not  do  for  the  average  Nebraska  school 
teacher.     Children  also  are  always  influenced  by  the  schoolhouse, 


O 
U 

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J 


School  buildings  and  grounds  in  Nebraska  15 

its  surroundings  and  the  interior.  Our  experience  has  always  been 
that  a  school  that  was  neat  and  clean  in  appearance  was  doing 
careful,  thorough  work,  with  excellent  order  prevailing,  while  a 
dirty,  dingy,  disarranged  schoolroom  was  invariably  a  disorderly, 
inattentive,  careless  and  slipshod  school.  If  the  aspect  of  the  school 
premises  is  forbidding,  it  is  not  surprising  that  the  children  are 
reluctant  to  go  to  school  and  are  pleased  to  get  away  again  as  soon 
as  they  can.  There  are  too  many  school  buildings  and  grounds  in 
Nebraska  whose  appearance  is  apparently  designed  to  encourage 
truancy.  The  condition  becomes  aggravated  when  the  improve- 
ment of  residences  outruns  the  improvement  of  schoolhouses.  Chil- 
dren are  quick  to  notice  contrasts  and  to  make  comparisons.  They 
will  compare  their  dusty,  dirty,  dingy,  smoke-begrimed  schoolhouse 
with  its  broken  plaster,  rusty  stove  and  rough,  knot-protruding 
floors,  its  broken,  rattle-trap  desks  and  dirty  windows,  with  their 
mother's  clean,  neat,  tidy  kitchens,  with  their  parents'  homes  where 
comforts  and  conveniences  are  multiplying,  where  plate  glass  win- 
dows, cedar  trees  and  other  evidences  of  prosperity  and  care  and 
forethought  attract  one's  eye  as  he  drives  from  one  schoolhouse  to 
another.  The  appearance  and  conditions  of  the  schoolhouse,  in 
which  our  children  spend  one-half  their  waking  hours  every  school 
day  in  the  year,  should  be  the  equal  of  the  same  in  our  homes. 


l6  SCHOOL  UUILHINGS  AND  GROUNDS  IN   NEBRASKA 

The  Sutherland  Schoolhouse 
(See  Frontispiece) 

This  is  a  iiowly  erected  district  schoolhouse,  located  about  five 
miles  west  of  Blair.  It  is  located  in  district  No.  20,  Washington 
county,  and  was  erected  during  the  same  year  as  the  new  Blair 
high  school  building,  and  by  the  same  architect. 

In  the  persi)ective  we  see  the  north  side  with  its  six  windows,  and 
the  west  end  with  the  entrance  in  the  southwest  corner.  The  pu- 
pils face  an  unbroken  cast  wall,  with  the  strong,  even  light  of  the 
north  entering  from  the  left,  and  two  smaller  windows  above  the 
blackboard  in  the  rear.  Fresh  air  enters  through  a  grating  in  the 
foundation  wall  near  the  steps,  and  is  carried  by  a  galvanized  iron 
duct  below  the  floor  to  an  opening  below  the  stove,  where  it  is 
warmed  and  distributed.  The  foul  air  passes  out  through  the  reg- 
isters in  the  floor  by  the  north  wall  and  in  the  wall  near  the  stove. 
This  air  heats  the  floor  from  below  and  the  ceiling  from  above. 
The  inlet  and  the  outlets  of  the  air  are  regulated  by  dampers.  There 
are  two  rows  of  blackboard  slates  across  the  front  wall,  the  upper 
one  for  the  use  of  the  teacher  for  copies,  drills,  etc.  The  teacher, 
from  her  natural  position  in  the  front  of  the  room,  may  watch  the 
pupils  at  the  blackboard  in  the  rear  of  the  room  and  inspect  their 
work,  and  at  the  same  time  "oversee"  those  at  work  in  their  seats. 
The  wardrobe  extends  along  the  south  side,  is  lighted  by  four  wan- 
dows  placed  high  in  the  wall,  and  is  furnished  with  sixty  double 
schoolhouse  hooks,  each  with  a  numbered  metal  tag. 

Fig.  I,  a  Model  Plan,  is  the  floor  plan  of  this  schoolhouse.  Com- 
plete specifications,  with  ground  plan,  exterior  views  and  w^orking 
drawings  for  the  construction  of  this  schoolhouse,  are  published 
on  the  following  pages. 

Had  the  building  been  located  on  one  of  the  three  other  comers 
formed  by  the  intersection  of  the  roads  the  entrance  might  have 
been  in  the  southeast  corner  of  the  building  instead  of  the  south- 
west, and  the  pupils,  after  passing  through  the  wardrobe,  would 
then  enter  the  rear  of  the  schoolroom,  and  visitors  would  enter  the 
front  of  the  room  from  the  entrance.  The  sunlight  enters  this  school- 
room in  the  afternoon  above  the  heads  of  the  pupils.  A  door  or 
window  near  the  east  end  of  the  wardrobe,  in  the  southeast  corner 


School  Room 


l-io.  1  — A  MODEL  FLOOR  PLAN 
The  Sutherland  Scboolhouse 


'^.  S<  ■'/'.  ri 


W/<J-Li     To    fiftlltM 

To  rLaatti^:  io  Ai  To  ee  /^KTIUti 

I 


-- 3/fSfMf/vr  Pl/i/V  - 

i/NCH  --  /roor 
A  RTRAI,  SCIIOOMIorSK 


ar-  o' 


-  F//^ST  flOO/e  /Z///V 
i'/AfCH  =  /roor. 

A  RURAL  SCHOOLHOUSE 


SCHOOL  BUILDINGS  AND  GROUNDS  IN  NEBRASKA  21 

of  the  building,  would  permit  the  early  morning  sunlight  to  stream 
across  the  schoolroom  through  the  inner  door. 

But  this  building,  though  not  perfect,  is  the  best  country  school- 
house  in  Washington  county,  and,  we  believe,  in  many  Nebraska 
counties.  It  is  substantial  in  construction  and  beautiful  in  interior 
finish. 

Since  its  completion  two  other  rural  schoolhouses  have  been 
erected  in  Washington  county  on  the  same  general  plan.  The  orig- 
inal plans  of  the  Sutherland  schoolhouse  are  now  on  file  in  the 
office  of  the  State  Superintendent  of  Public  Instruction  at  Lincoln. 


A  Rural  Schoolhouse 


Brief  Specif ica' ions  for  Wo-k  and  Material  Required  for  the  Erection  of  a  One-room 

SchoDlfiouse,  in  Accordance  with  Accompanying  Ground  Plans, 

Elevations  and  Work  ng  Drawings 


The  Original  of  this  Building  was  Built  in  Dis'rict  No.  20,  Washington  County,  Nebraska. 
(See  Frontispiece) 

This  building  may  be  erected  in  the  eastern  portion  of  the  state, 
complete,  for  $1,000.00.  The  original  plans  are  now  on  file  in  the 
office  of  the  State  Superintendent  of  Public  Instruction  at  Lincoln. 

general  conditions 
The  Board. 

The  Board  reserves  the  right  to  reject  any  or  all  bids.  The 
Board  will  superintend  the  work,  through  the  Architect  or  an  espe- 
cially appointed  superintendent.  The  Board  reserves  the  right  to 
make  any  changes,  omissions,  or  additions  in  and  to  the  building, 
without  voiding  these  specifications,  the  contract,  or  bond. 

The  Board  will  recognize  no  extra  work  and  will  not  pay  for 
extra  work,  unless  such  work  has  been  ordered  beforehand  by  reso- 
lution of  the  Board. 

No  alleged  verbal  agreement  at  variance  with  the  drawings, 
specifications,  etc.,  will  be  recognized.     The  Board  will  insure  its 


M  SCHOOL  BUILDINGS  AND  GROUNDS  IN  NEBRASKA 

equity  in  the  builtlinc:  from  time  to  time  as  payments  are  made,  but 
the  Contractor  must  insure  his  interest  therein  at  his  own  cost. 

Thk  Contractor. 

The  Contractor  will  be  responsible  for  the  buildinj  until  its  ac- 
ceptance by  the  Board,  and  must  make  good  all  injuries  sustained 
during  construction  from  whatever  cause.  The  Contractor  must 
show  receipts  (if  the  Board  elects  to  ask  for  them)  before  each 
payment. 

The  Contractor  must  give  a  bond  with  two  responsible  sureties 
as  provided  by  law,  subject  to  the  approval  by  vote  of  the  Board. 

The  Contractor  must  finally  deliver  the  building  whole,  perfect, 
and  clean,  within  the  contract  time,  and  must  correct  all  defects  dis- 
covered during  the  first  month  of  use,  unless  the  same  are  no  fault 
of  his. 

Excavation. 

The  Contractor  must  visit  the  site  and  examine  same.  The  height 
of  the  first  floor  will  be  given,  and  the  Contractor  must  do  all  nec- 
essary excavation  to  bring  the  walls  below  frost.  He  must  remove 
6  inches  of  the  black  earth  under  the  building,  to  prevent  decay  of 
vegetation  under  the  building. 

Brick  Work. 

'J  he  entire  brick  work,  including  chimney,  is  to  be  built  of  good, 
hard,  sound  brick,  to  be  laid  straight  and  true,  neatly  pointed  up  and 
to  be  washed  down  upon  completion.  There  is  to  be  a  9-inch  brick 
wall  extending  under  all  interior  wood  partitions,  for  the  support 
of  partitions  and  floor  joists. 

The  smoke  flue  is  to  be  plastered  on  the  inside  and  is  to  be  12  x  12 
inches  in  size;  it  is  also  to  be  plastered  on  the  outside,  where  it 
passes  through  the  ceiling  and  roof. 

All  wood  is  to  be  kept  from  the  flue  i  inch  clear.  Smoke  flue  is  to 
have  an  8-inch  thimble  for  furnace  pipe. 

Plastering. 

Lath  all  walls  and  ceilings  with  No.  i  white  pine  or  cypress 
lath,  with  ^^-inch  spaces,  breaking  joints  every  seventh  lath. 

Plaster  all  walls  and  ceilings,  including  inside  of  teacher's  closet, 
three  coats;  the  first  two  coats  to  be  hard  plaster  of  an  improved 
manufacture  approved  by  the  Board,  and  the  last  coat  to  be  a  Plas- 


^  2'  roRTij\NO  Cement  MatTMi 


-S)l//N  fl£U/IT/0/y 

A  RURAL  SCHOOLHOUSI'; 


A   RURAr.  SCHOOLHOUSE 


SCHOOL  BUILDINGS  AND  GROUNDS  IN  NEBRASKA  2$ 

ter  Paris  finishing  coat.  All  plastered  corners  are  to  be  rounded. 
Care  is  to  be  taken  that  plastering  which  will  receive  artificial  black- 
board is  absolutely  straight  and  true. 

The  wall  which  will  receive  blackboard  is  to  be  plastered  as 
above  specified,  as  if  no  blackboard  were  to  be  used.  If  natural 
slate  blackboard  is  used,  the  first  two  coats  of  plastering  are  to  be 
put  on  ready  for  finishing  coat,  and  the  finishing  coat  behind  natural 
slate  blackboard  is  to  be  omitted. 

Plastering  is  to  extend  tight  up  against  window  jambs  and  door 
jambs  and  down  to  floor  behind  base  everywhere,  to  make  the 
building  warm. 

Carpenter  Work. 

Floor  joists  are  to  be  2  x  12  inch  and  ceiling  joists  2  x  10  inch 
yellow  pine,  sound,  dry  and  well-seasoned.  All  other  framing 
lumber  to  be  white  pine  or  yellow  pine,  sound,  dry  and  well-sea- 
soned.   Joists  and  rafters  are  to  be  in  one  length. 

Valleys  are  to  be  in  two  pieces  2x8  inches  each,  thoroughly 
spiked  together.  Exterior  studding  is  to  be  2  x  6  inches,  12  feet 
long.  Interior  studding  is  to  be  2  x  6  inches,  12  feet  long.  Wall 
plate  for  exterior  walls  is  to  be  8x8  inches  halved  and  pinned  at 
corners,  and  mortised  for  joists.  All  sills  for  interior  walls  are  to 
be  2  X  8  inches. 

Plates  for  exterior  studding  are  to  be  2  x  6  inches,  double,  and 
plates  for  interior  studding  to  be  2  x  6  inches,  double.  All  corners 
and  angles  are  to  be  built  up  solid,  no  lath  to  run  through.  All 
joists  and  studdings  are  to  be  16  inches  from  center  to  center. 

Put  double  studding  on  each  side  of  each  door  and  window  open- 
ing. Schoolroom  floor  is  to  have  one  row  of  cross  bridging  i  x  3 
inches. 

Every  pair  of  rafters  is  to  have  a  2  x  4  inch  cross  tie  8  feet 
long.    The  valleys  will  brace  the  roof  in  the  other  direction. 

Tower. 

Tower  is  to  have  bell  deck,  covered  with  I.X.  tin,  and  to  have 
3x3  inch  scuttle,  and  also  a  scuttle  in  the  ceiling  of  the  school- 
room immediately  under  tower. 

The  corner  posts  of  the  tower  are  to  extend  down  to  the  top  of 
ceiling  joists  and  to  be  braced.     Ceiling  joists  under  inside  tower 


2f*  SCHOOL  BUILDINGS  AND  GROUNDS  IN   NEBRASKA 

jiosts  arc  to  be  treble,  and  tbe  roof  of  tower  is  to  be  thoroughly 
cross-braced. 

Porch. 

Porch  is  to  be  built  as  shown,  of  white  pine,  with  J^  x  4  inch 
white  pine  flooring,  and  to  have  white  pine  steps  i^^  inch  thick, 
with  white  pine  railing  and  balusters. 

Ceiling  of  porch  is  to  be  first  lined  with  roof  sheathing,  then  to 
have  one  layer  of  straw  paper,  and  then  to  be  covered  with  ^  x  4 
inch  white  pine  ceiling. 

Ventilation. 

The  ventilating  flue  is  to  be  lined  up  with  ^  x  6  inch  yellow 
pine  ceiling,  and  is  to  extend  from  under  side  of  floor  joists  to  attic 
floor.  On  top  of  roof  build  a  12-inch  globe  ventilator  of  galvanized 
iron. 

The  ventilating  flue  is  to  have  sliding  board  in  schoolroom  so 
arranged  as  to  close  ofif  the  ventilating  flue  entirely  when  school  is 
not  in  session. 

Below  the  second  and  fifth  windows  put  a  10  x  10  inch  ventilat- 
ing register  in  the  floor.  The  foul  air  will  then  pass  directly 
through  these  registers  down  between  the  earth  and  the  floor 
towards  the  ventilating  flue,  pass  up  through  the  ventilating  flue  to 
the  attic,  and  spread  all  over  the  attic ;  tlience  the  air  will  pass  out 
through  the  globe  ventilator  in  the  top  of  the  roof.  In  the  outside 
wall  below  the  floor  build  an  opening  i  foot  6  inches  x  i  foot  6 
inches,  and  run  a  galvanized  iron  duct  i  foot  6  inches  x  i  foot  6 
inches  under  the  floor  to  the  under  side  of  the  furnace.  Under  the 
furnace  cut  a  hole  in  the  floor  24  inches  in  diameter  and  permit 
the  air  to  strike  against  the  bottom  of  the  furnace.  Provide  a 
tight  door  in  the  opening  of  the  outside  wall  so  the  cold  air  may 
be  shut  off  from  the  school  when  it  is  not  in  session.  (An  ordinary 
cast  iron  furnace  costing  about  $45.00  f.  o.  b.  is  to  be  placed  over 
the  opening  in  the  floor.  The  furnace  is  then  to  receive  a  galva- 
nized iron  casing  extending  from  the  floor  to  the  top  of  the  furnace. 
The  cold  air  will  then  strike  the  furnace,  where  it  will  be  warmed, 
rise  between  the  furnace  and  the  galvanized  iron  casing  and  pass 
out  into  the  schoolroom.  The  furnace,  casing  and  smoke  pipe  will 
cost  not  to  exceed  $80.00  set  in  place.) 

By  the  above  method  the  foul  air  leaves  the  room  at  about  68  or 


Smrmss 


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A  RURAL  SCHOOLHOUSE 


SCHOOL  BUILDINGS  AND  GROUNDS  IN  NEBRASKA  29 

70  degrees,  will  be  drawn  under  floor  and  warm  the  floor,  and  it 
will  be  drawn  through  the  ventilating  flue  to  the  attic,  thereby 
warming  the  ceiling  of  the  schoolroom. 

Sheathing. 

Cover  all  outside  walls,  entire  roof,  tower  and  entire  floor  with 
No.  I  sheathing. 

Paper. 

Cover  sheathing  on  all  outside  walls  with  one  layer  of  good 
building  paper  (not  tar  paper),  and  cover  the  entire  roof  sheathing 
with  one  layer  of  tar  paper.     All  paper  is  to  be  lapped  2  inches. 

Shingles. 

Cover  the  entire  roof  and  tower  with  first  clear  red-wood  or 
cypress  shingling,  laid  4  inches  to  the  weather.  Each  shingle  is  to 
have  two  galvanized  iron  shingle  nails. 

The  shingles  are  to  be  dipped  for  two-thirds  their  length  from 
the  bottom  up,  into  best  quality  Creosote  Shingle  Stain. 

Tin. 

Valleys  and  bell  deck  are  to  be  lined  with  I.X.  tin  14  inches  wide. 

Ridges. 

Ridges  are  to  be  formed  with  two  ^  x  5  inch  boards. 

Cornice. 

Cornice  is  to  be  as  shown  on  drawing.  The  eaves  are  to  be 
lined  with  paper  and  "«  >^  4  inch  white  pine  ceiling. 

Outside  Finish. 

Water  table  is  to  be  lys  inches  x  9J/  inches  high,  to  have  i^s  x  3 
inch  cap  and  %  quarter  round  underneath  corner  board.  Window 
casings  and  door  casings  are  to  be  i^^  inches  thick  and  5  inches 
wide. 

Window  sills  are  to  be  i)4  inches  thick.  Outside  window  casing 
is  to  be  so  placed  as  to  permit  of  storm  sash  at  a  later  day.  Care 
is  to  be  taken  that  the  building  paper  extends  under  all  water 
tables,  corner  boards,  door  and  window  casings. 

Siding. 

All  outside  studdings  are  to  be  covered  with  narrow  siding  with 
3^2  inch  lap.     Siding  is  to  be  white  pine  or  red  wood. 


30  school  buildings  and  grounds  in  nebraska 

Interior  Finish. 

Cover  all  floors  with  %  x  4  inch  tongucd  and  grooved  No.  i 
yellow  pine  flooring ;  all  joints  to  be  smoothed  after  laying.  As 
soon  as  laid  the  floor  is  to  receive  one  coat  of  boiled  linseed  oil 
mixed  with  25  per  cent  turpentine. 

Ladder, 

Provide  a  ladder  from  attic  to  bell  deck. 

DooRS. 

The  outside  door  is  to  have  double  strength  glass  in  upper  panel. 
It  is  to  be  made  of  two  thicknesses  of  white  pine  ly^  inch  each, 
making  the  door  234  inches  thick,  to  be  paneled  and  flush  moulded. 
All  inside  doors  are  to  be  No.  i  white  pine  stock  doors  with  five 
panels,  hand  smoothed  for  oil  finish. 

The  two  teacher's  closet  doors  are  to  be  ij/i  inches  thick,  to  have 
three  panels  each. 

Jambs. 

Outside  door  jamb  is  to  be  i^  inches  thick,  rebated.  Inside  door 
jamb  is  to  be  %  inch  thick,  and  is  to  have  door  stops. 

Teacher's  Closet. 

Teacher's  closet  is  to  have  seven  shelves  14  inches  wide,  to  be  put 
on  ratchets,  so  as  to  make  them  movable. 

Windows. 

Windows  are  to  have  lys  inch  yellow  pine  pulley  stiles,  i^  inches 
thick,  to  be  filled  with  D.  S.  (double  strength)  glass. 

Sash  is  to  be  hung  to  cast  iron  weights  with  34  i^ich  Sampson  or 
Silver  Lake  cord,  to  have  234  inch  anti-friction  axle  pulleys,  and 
all  windows  are  to  have  i}i  inch  stool. 

Casing. 

Doors  and  windows  are  to  have  J^  x  5  inch  casing  with  plinth  at 
bottom  and  to  be  mitered  on  top. 

Base  is  to  be  %  x  7  inches,  to  have  J^  x  3  inch  mould  on  top 
and  quarter  round  at  bottom. 

Chalk  trough  is  to  run  all  around  room  and  to  be  i>^  inches 
thick,  to  be  hollowed  for  chalk,  to  project  2^  inches,  and  to  have 
^  X  5  inch  apron. 


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A  RURAL  SCHOOLHOUSE 


school  buildings  and  grounds  in  nebraska  ^^ 

Picture  Moulding. 

Run  picture  moulding  all  around  school  room,  level  with  the 
top  of  windows. 

Interior  Finish. 

All  interior  finish,  with  the  exception  of  doors,  is  to  be  best 
quality  yellow  pine,  hand  smoothed  for  oil  finish. 

Painting. 

Paint  all  tin  immediately  after  laying  and  before  covering,  with 
two  coats  of  approved  mineral  paint. 

Paint  all  exterior  woodwork  with  three  coats  of  pure  lineed  oil, 
pure  white  lead  and  best  English  pigments,  and  color  as  selected. 

The  first  coat  of  paint  is  to  be  ^  French  ochre,  3^  white  lead 
and  oil.  After  first  coat  all  nail  holes  and  other  defects  are  to  be 
puttied. 

Varnish  all  interior  woodwork  three  coats ;  first  coat  is  to  be  a 
liquid  filler,  second  and  third  coats  a  good  standard  varnish,  list 
price  not  less  than  $2.50. 

Filler  and  first  coat  are  to  be  rubbed  down,  last  coat  is  to  be 
flowed  on. 

Blackboards. 

Blackboards  will  be  put  on  by  the  Board,  and  are  not  to  be  in- 
cluded in  this  contract. 

Hardware. 

The  Carpenter  will  furnish  complete  and  will  put  on  all  hard- 
ware. Each  window  is  to  have  a  heavy  sash  lock,  and  one  lUish 
sash  lift.  Front  door  is  to  have  4^/3  x  43/2  inch  lock  with  three  steel 
tumblers,  two  keys,  and  three  4^  x  4J.2  inch  steel  hinges. 

Each  inside  door  is  to  have  one  tumbler  lock  and  two  4x4  inch 
steel  hinges. 

Teacher's  closet  is  to  have  one  tumbler  lock  to  one  leaf,  the  other 
leaf  to  be  hooked  to  shelf,  each  door  to  be  hung  with  two  ^1/2  inch  x 
33^  inch  steel  hinges. 

All  locks  are  to  have  solid  knobs,  elongated  escutcheons.  All 
hardware  above  specified  is  to  be  bronzed. 


34  SCHOOL  BUILDINGS  AND  GROUNDS  IN  NEBRASKA 

Model  Plans  for  Village  Schools 

One  wlio  looks  through  this  book  carefully  will  be  surprised  at 
the  difference  in  the  appearances  of  the  school  buildings  in  the 
villages  of  the  state.  It  is  plain  to  be  seen  that  many  of  our  school 
buildings  a.,  e  creatures  of  the  imagination  of  architects  with  no 
knowledge  of  the  actual  needs  of  the  schoolroom  and  with  little  care 
or  forethought  for  the  comforts  and  conveniences  of  the  school 
children.  Many  of  the  buildings,  however,  that  present  a  very  re- 
spectable appearance  in  perspective  possess  abominable  floor  plans. 
Within  the  rooms,  crosslights  predominate,  the  light  enters  the  room 
from  the  right,  or  from  the  right  and  rear,  or  from  three  sides,  and 
in  no  inconsiderable  number  of  schoolrooms  in  Nebraska  the  wall 
in  front  of  the  children  is  broken  by  one  or  more  windows.  In 
many  cases  the  front  wall  is  also  broken  by  doors.  Such  a  thing  as 
a  teacher's  closet  is  unheard  of,  and  the  children  hang  their  wet, 
steaming  wraps,  often  with  the  odors  of  the  kitchen  about  them,  in 
the  schoolroom. 

The  accompanying  plans  are  designed  to  show  how  village  school 
buildings  containing  two  and  four  rooms  may  be  constructed  so  as 
to  avoid  these  difflculties. 

A  MODEL  TWO-ROOM  FRAME  SCHOOL  BUILDING 

Here  are  the  plans  of  a  model  two-room  frame  building  for  a 
small  village  or  a  thickly  settled  rural  community.  It  is  a  two- 
story  building,  and  may  be  heated  with  stoves  or  furnaces  arranged 
according  to  the  specifications  for  a  rural  schoolhouse  published 
elsewhere  in  this  volume.  Read  carefully  the  description  of  the 
Sutherland  schoolhouse  illustrated  in  the  frontispiece.  At  any  time 
in  the  future  a  third  room  may  be  added  according  to  the  first  floor 
plan,  or  two  rooms  may  be  added  according  to  the  first  and  second 
floor  plans. 

A    MODEL  TWO-ROOM   BRICK   SCHOOL  BUILDING 

These  plans  vary  slightly  from  those  of  the  frame  building  just 
described.  Two  cloak  rooms  are  here  provided  for  each  schoolroom, 
one  cloak  room  for  each  sex.  Should  future  schoolrooms  be  con- 
structed at  any  time,  each  room  would  be  restricted  to  one  cloak 
room.     The  shading  of  the  walls  indicates  windows  or  openings 


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SCHOOL  BUILDINGS  AND  GROUNDS  IN  NEBRASKA  43 

that  may  be  bricked  vip  with  the  construction  of  the  original  two 
rooms,  but  which  may  later  be  converted  into  doors  or  windows.  As 
the  rear  walls  of  both  the  frame  and  brick  plans  have  no  openings 
whatever,  it  would  not  be  a  difficult  matter  to  construct  the  future 
schoolrooms  indicated  on  the  plans,  and  then  again  double  the 
capacity  of  the  building  by  adding  as  much  more  on  the  rear  side, 
remodeling  the  roof  and  opening  passage  ways  from  the  rear  of  the 
halls.  The  possibility  of  thus  increasing  to  eight  rooms  is  reserved 
more  particularly  for  the  following  plans.  In  Nebraska  villages  it  is 
always  wise  to  make  provision  for  doubling  the  capacity  of  the 
school  buildings  at  any  time  without  necessarily  doubling  the  ex- 
pense of  construction. 

A  MODEL  FOUR-ROOM  FRAME  SCHOOL  BUILDING. 

This  is  practically  the  Calhoun  school  building  illustrated  herein. 
This  building  was  erected  last  year  at  a  cost  of  about  $6,000.  As 
may  be  seen  by  the  plan,  it  contains  ventilating  flues  for  all  the 
schoolrooms.  Each  room  is  similar  in  its  arrangement  to  the  one 
room  in  the  Sutherland  schoolhouse,  in  district  No.  20  of  the  same 
county  in  which  Calhoun  is  located — Washington.  District  No.  20, 
Calhoun,  and  Blair  are  all  in  Washington  county,  and  their  new 
buildings  were  all  designed  by  the  same  architect,  Mr.  Latenser. 
There  is  practically  no  difference  in  the  interior  point  of  view  or  in 
the  arrangement  of  the  Sutherland  schoolroom,  any  schoolroom  in 
the  Calhoun  building,  and  any  schoolroom  in  the  new  Blair  high 
school  building.  They  are  all  arranged  with  the  windows  at  the  left 
of  the  children  and  an  unbroken  front  wall  before  them. 

A  MODEL  FOUR-ROOM   BRICK  SCHOOL  BUILDING. 

These  plans  differ  but  little  from  those  for  the  four-room  frame 
building,  but  the  interior  walls,  like  the  exterior,  are  designed  to  run 
down  to  the  foundation.  For  explanation  of  this,  sec  the  description 
of  the  Blair  high  school  building.  The-  capacity  of  this  building 
may  be  doubled  by  duplicating  it  on  the  rear  side,  remodeling  the 
roof,  and  converting  the  double  window  at  the  rear  of  the  hall  into 
a  double  door  or  opening  it  into  an  archway. 


44  SCHOOL  BUILDINGS  AND  GROUNDS  IN   NEBRASKA 


School  Site 

In  selecting  a  site  for  a  school  building  the  principal  items  to  be 
considered  are  size,  soil,  drainage,  sightliness  and  location  in  the 
district.  One  acre  of  ground  is  little  enough, — two  or  three  acres 
would  be  better, — but  the  depth  of  the  lot  should  exceed  the  widtli 
by  about  one-third.  The  front  part  of  the  grounds  should  be  sodded 
with  blue  grass  and  planted  with  hardy  shade  trees,  not  too  close  to 
the  building.  The  ground  should,  if  possible,  be  sloping  toward  the 
road  or  street,  with  no  depressions.  If  the  ground  is  quite  level, 
artificial  drainage  should  be  resorted  to. 


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SCHOOL  BUILDINGS  AND  GROUNDS  IN  NEBRASKA  49 

Seating 

Even  when  school  buildings  are  properly  constructed,  and  school- 
rooms are  lighted  as  they  should  be,  much  of  the  good  that  should 
result  therefrom  is  counteracted  by  an  improper  arrangement  and 
placing  of  the  desks  and  seats  of  the  children.  School  desks  are 
usually  made  in  six  sizes,  from  No.  i,  the  largest,  to  No.  6,  the 
smallest.  Sometimes  they  are  numbered  from  A,  the  largest,  to  F, 
the  smallest.  No.  i  is  sometimes  known  as  the  College  or  Normal 
School  size  and  may  be  entirely  dispensed  with.  No.  6  is  the  proper 
size  for  kindergarten  children  of  four  and  five  years  of  age  and  the 
smallest  first  primary  children  of  five  and  six  years  o^  age.  A  five 
or  six  year  old  child  that  is  above  the  average  size  for  his  age  may  sit 
with  the  greatest  comfort  in  a  No.  5  desk.  The  rural  school,  then, 
should  contain  a  single  row  of  No.  2  desks  for  the  largest  boys  and 
girls,  and  a  row  of  No.  6  desks  for  the  smallest  ones.  If  there  are 
five  rows  of  desks  in  the  room  there  may  be  one  row  each,  from 
front  to  rear,  of  Nos.  2,  3,  4,  5,  and  6.  If  there  are  six  rows  of 
desks  in  the  room,  there  may  be  two  rows  of  No.  4.  This  selection 
will  come  nearer  than  any  other  in  accommodating  the  ordinary 
country  school.  In  too  many  cases  children  have  desks  too  large 
for  them.  They  sit  on  seats  that  are  so  high  that  they  cannot  place 
their  feet  flatly  on  the  floor,  with  desks  so  high  that  they  cannot 
write  on  them  without  elevating  their  elbows  to  the  height  of  their 
shoulders.  These  conditions  are  very  injurious  to  health,  as  well 
as  uncomfortable. 

Single,  desks  should  be  used.  The  difference  in  expense  is  small, 
while  the  effect  on  the  order  of  the  school  and  the  independence 
and  studiousness  of  the  children  is  great. 

Only  desks  of  the  same  size  should  be  placed  in  the  same  row. 
The  old  fashioned  school  placed  the  small  desks  across  the  front, 
the  largest  ones  across  the  rear,  thinking  that  it  looked  better  that 
way.  Perhaps  the  desks  do,  but  the  children  do  not.  The  No.  2  seat 
is  adjusted  at  a  height  to  fit  the  No.  2  desk. 

If  the  main  light  comes  in,  as  it  should,  from  one  side  of 
the  schoolroom,  the  seats  should  be  so  placed  that  it  will  enter 
at  the  left  of  the  children.  It  is  usually  better  to  place  the  row  of 
No.  6  desks  on  the  left  side  of  the  room  and  the  row  of  No.  2  on  the 


50 


SCHOOL  BUILDINGS  AND  GROUNDS  IN   NEBRASKA 


right  side.  From  a  position  in  front  of  the  No.  6  row  of  desks  the 
teacher  can  look  over  the  heads  of  the  smaller  children  on  the  left 
of  the  room  (her  right)  to  the  larger  ones  at  the  right  of  the  room. 
It  may  be  preferable,  however,  to  place  the  rows  of  No.  5  and  No. 
6  desks  in  the  center,  No.  2  and  No.  3  to  the  outside.  The  accom- 
panying diagrams  illustrate  these  two  plans. 


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6 

5 

3 

4 

6 

5 

4 

0 

3 

4 

G 

5 

4 

2 

3 

4 

(J 

5 

4 

2 

3 

4 

6 

5 

4 

2 

3 

4 

6 

5 

4 

2 

3 

4 

6 

5 

4 

2 

3 

4 

6 

5 

4 

2 

A  village  employing  three  or  more  teachers  may  seat  three-fourths 
of  the  pupils  in  each  room  with  only  two  sizes  of  desks.  One-eighth 
of  the  desks  might  be  the  next  size  larger  and  one-eighth  the  next 
size  smaller  than  the  other  two  sizes  used.     The  intermediate  room 

might  be  seated  according  to  the 
accompanying  diagram: 

We  place  the  smaller  desks  and 
smaller  children  next  the  windows, 
as  they  form  less  obstruction  to 
the  light  in  its  passage  to  the  right 
of  the  room. 

Desks  Nos.  5  and  6  should  be  so 
placed  that  the  edge  of  the  desk 
next  to  and  in  front  of  the  child 
shall  be  about  nine  inches  from  the 
back  of  the  seat  in  which  he  is  sit- 
ting; for  desk  No.  4  this  distance 
should  be  about  ten  inches;  No. 


5  4  4  4  3  3 

5  4  4  4  3  3 

5  4  4  4  3  3 

5  4  4  4  3  3 

5  4  4  4  3  3 

5  4  4  4  3  3 

5  4  4  4  3  3 

5  4  4  4  3  3 


FROINI    Till'    \VI';ST  VIRGINIA  vSCIIOOI,    JOTRXAI, 
Charleston,  November,  lilOl 


I 

■  czzn    izz:  ^  i=i    izizi  "*i 

1^ 


IDODQOOOD 
IDDOaODDD 
DQDDDDDO 

7 


IP 


iz=]  :  CZH    C=l 


"iztzj    nzj  ^  1ZZ3    Ezi] 


A  TWO-ROOM  BUILDING 
(From  the  American  School  Board  Journal,  Chicago,  June,  1901) 


SCHOOL  BUILDINGS  AND  GROUNDS  IN   NEBRASKA  53 

3  eleven  or  twelve  inches;  and  No.  2  twehe  O'  thirteen  inches.  In  a 
majority  of  the  schoolrooms  of  Nebraska  the  desks  are  so  far  apart  that 
children  are  forced  to  lean  forward  in  unnatural  positions  to  make  use 
of  them  in  writing  and  drawing. 

The  aisles  at  the  sides  and  rear  of  the  room  should  be  about  three 
feet  wide  and  the  others  should  be  about  twenty  inches  wide. 


54  SCHOOL  BUILDINGS  AND  GROUNDS  IN   NEBRASKA 

Outhouses 

Section  6a,  subdivision  V.  of  the  Scliool  Laws  of  Nebraska  for 
1 901  is  as  follows: 

It  shall  be  the  duty  of  school  district  boards  to  provide  on  every 
schoolhouse  site,  and  keep  in  good  repair  and  in  clean  and  healthful 
condition,  at  least  two  separate  water  closets  or  privies,  located  on 
those  portions  of  the  site  the  farthest  from  the  main  entrance  to 
the  schoolhouse,  and  as  far  from  each  other  as  the  surrounding 
condition  will  permit ;  Provided,  That  where  adequate  and  separate 
interior  closets  are  provided  and  maintained  in  good  repair  and 
healthful  condition,  the  foregoing  condition  of  this  act  shall  not 
apply. 

In  too  many  districts  in  the  state  this  law  is  not  enforced ;  in  a 
few  districts  there  is  but  one  outhouse ;  in  a  larger  number  there 
are  two  outhouses,  but  both  are  under  one  roof ;  in  a  still  larger 
number  of  districts  the  outhouses  are,  next  to  the  schoolhouse  itself, 
the  most  conspicuous  objects  within  forty  rods,  and  children  are 
taught  by  their  position  and  arrangement,  by  suggestion,  by  school- 
room habit  and  inclination,  even  by  their  teacher's  rules  sometimes, 
that  tlie  chief  object  of  school  attendance  is  to  frequent  the 
outhouses. 

The  outhouses  at  railroad  depots,  hotels,  and  school  buildings 
often  contain  upon  their  v/alls  the  most  obscene,  foul  and  vulgar 
language  and  figures  that  may  be  conceived,  written  or  drawn. 
This  is  not  always  the  work  of  school  children,  even  in  the  out- 
houses on  school  grounds,  but  often  of  the  vagrant  and  the  loafer. 
Every  school  outhouse  should  be  provided  with  a  stout  door  and 
lock,  and  it  should  be  locked  at  all  times  when  school  is  not  in 
session.  That  will  insure  its  daily  inspection,  and  with  brush  and 
paint  or  whitewash  all  marks  should  be  covered  up  the  day  they  are 
made.    Discourage  such  crimes. 

The  two  outhouses  should  be  placed  in  the  two  rear  comers  of 
the  school  grounds  and  should  be  concealed  by  trees  or  shrubbery. 
A  high,  tight-board  fence  or  a  hedge  should  separate  the  rear  quar- 
ters of  the  school  grounds,  and  on  the  front  half  only  should  the  two 
sexes  be  allowed  a  common  play  ground. 

There  are  children   who  have  attended  the  public  schools    for 


<  ^ 

O  aj 

^  tn 

S3  5 

O  a 

^'  o 


NORTH  SCHOOL,  SUPERIOR 


SCHOOL  BUILDINGS  AND  GROUNDS  IN  NEBRASKA  $7 

several  years  who  have  seldom,  if  ever,  asked  to  be  excused  from 
the  schoolroom.  There  are  others  who  leave  the  room  each  and 
every  half  day.  Differently  constituted,  you  say?  Yes,  undoubtedly, 
but  not  by  nature.  The  difference  is,  in  a  measure  at  least,  in  habit, 
in  training.  We  know  of  parents  who  require  their  children  to  at- 
tend to  their  physical  necessities  before  they  start  to  school,  in  the 
morning  and  at  noon.  Such  parents  realize  that  the  ordinary  school 
outhouse  will,  unavoidably,  disease  the  body  and  corrupt  the  mind 
of  the  child.  They  realize  that  the  gathering  of  large  numbers  of 
children  in  such  places  does  not  improve  their  morals  or  their  man- 
ners. They  realize,  also,  what  is  of  minor  importance,  that  a  child 
who  leaves  the  schoolroom  each  half  day  not  only  interrupts  the 
work,  attracts  the  attention  of  the  teacher,  and  distracts  the  atten- 
tion of  the  pupils,  both  in  his  exit  and  his  entrance,  but  also,  if  he 
loses  ten  minutes  from  his  studies  each  time,  loses  sixty  whole  hours, 
or  more  than  ten  days  in  the  course  of  nine  months.  A  teacher 
should  permit  pupils  to  leave  the  schoolroom  when  necessary,  and 
she  should  be  cautioned  not  to  constitute  herself  the  judge  of  the 
child's  physical  necessities,  but  she  should  use  all  reasonable  means 
to  reduce  the  number  to  a  minimum.  One  teacher  has  adopted  the 
plan  of  excusing  during  the  first  five  minutes  after  nine  o'clock,  while 
settling  down  and  hanging  wraps,  pupils  who  think  they  may  need 
to  pass  out  before  recess,  and  strange  as  it  may  seem,  this  almost 
entirely  cures  the  evil  of  a  string  of  pupils  constantly  going  and 
coming.  Pupils  will  not  neglect  play  to  attend  to  their  physical 
necessities  before  school  time,  even  with  the  tap  of  the  bell  five 
minutes  before  the  hour  to  remind  them.  And  in  this  connection,  is 
it  too  much  to  ask  of  parents  that  they  instruct  their  children  in 
habits  of  cleanliness :  the  fathers  their  boys,  and  the  mothers  their 
girls  ? 


58  SCHOOL  BUILDINGS  AND  GROUNDS  IN   NEBRASKA 

School  Architecture 

The  advantages  derived  from  schoolhouses,  whose  exterior  pre- 
sents a  beautiful  design,  is  becoming  recognized  more  and  more 
every  year. 

When  the  beautiful  was  taught  unto  mankind,  says  an  exchange, 
the  district  schoolhouse  was  evidently  left  out  of  the  list  of  things 
that  might  be  called  decorative.  Square,  grim,  uninviting  and  un- 
compromisingly ugly,  it  stands  at  the  most  convenient  cross  roads 
or  on  some  beautiful  wooded  slope,  a  menace  to  ethics  of  architec- 
tural beauty  and  a  most  helpful  argument  in  childish  minds  against 
the  attractiveness  of  education.  There  is  little  that  could  appeal  to 
the  esthetic  side  of  human  nature  in  a  building  of  this  kind. 

The  log  buildings  of  pioneer  days  set  the  rectangular  fashion  of 
architecture  through  necessity,  the  materials  used  and  the  crude 
labor  employed  requiring  this.  Times  and  conditions  have  changed 
so  radically  since  then,  the  materials  and  the  workmen  are  so  much 
more  easily  secured  and  better  suited  to  the  work,  that  much  is  now 
possible  in  the  way  of  varying  the  old  style.  Especially  where  it  is 
a  two-  or  three-room  building  are  there  possibilities  of  architectural 
beauty.  Straight,  apparently  endless  roof  lines  can  be  broken  with 
windows,  and  sharp  angles  softened  in  outline,  with  a  small  portico 
here  and  there  to  relieve  the  severity  of  the  whole.  The  same  amount 
of  money  carefully  spent  could  secure  so  much  better  results  that 
school  commissioners  ought  to  feel  inspired  to  try  it  sometimes  and 
see  for  themselves. 

From  the  district  school  may  come  the  nation's  leaders,  rulers, 
writers,  thinkers  of  the  future,  and  the  more  they  are  given  of  the 
artistic  and  symmetrical  things  in  childhood  the  better  will  they 
stand  in  later  years  for  the  elevating  and  refining  things  of  life. 

Interiors  where  bare  walls,  straight  wooden  seats  and  a  painful 
lack  of  adornment  are  the  daily  environment  of  the  country  student, 
offer  nothing  conducive  to  the  esthetic  development,  and  another 
helpful  opportunity  is  lost. 

— The  American  School  Board  Journal,  October,  ipoi. 


ARLINGTON  HIGH  SCHOOL' ROOM 


KECKLKY  vSCIHJOL,   I)JSTRICT  No.  (1:5,  YORK  COUNTY 


TLEASANT  PRAIRIE  SCHOOL,  PAWNEE  COUNTY 


PLEASANT  PRAIRIE  SCHOOL,  DISTRICT  No   14,  PAWNEE  COUNTY 


SCHOOL  BUILDINGS  AND  GROUNDS  IN  NEBRASKA  6l 

Value  of  School  Architecture 

Economy  is  well,  says  a  Southern  school  board  member,  but 
sometimes  it  is  carried  too  far,  and  sometimes  practiced  in  wrong 
directions.  To  the  stranger  the  outward  appearance  of  the  school 
buildings  of  a  city  is  taken  as  the  indication  of  its  educational  stand- 
ing. Of  course  the  best  teachers  may  teach  in  the  shabbiest  build- 
ings, or  the  poorest  in  the  finest  buildings,  but  as  a  rule  interest  in 
education  is  indicated  by  outward  appearances.  A  community  that 
takes  great  interest  in  education,  that  demands  up-to-date  methods 
in  the  schoolroom,  will  demand  up-to-date  school  buildings,  and  the 
absence  of  such  buildings  is  taken  as  an  indication  of  lack  of  prog- 
ress in  education. 

Nothing  helps  a  town  more  than  good  educational  facilities,  or 
hurts  it  more  than  a  lack  of  them,  and  as  these  facilities  are  judged 
by  strangers  to  a  great  extent  by  the  appearance  of  school  buildings, 
it  follows  that  nothing  helps  a  town  more  than  good  school  build- 
ings, or  hurts  it  more  than  a  lack  of  them. 

But  it  is  not  for  the  effect  on  strangers  alone  that  we  need  good 
school  buildings.  We  need  them  for  our  children,  for  their  health, 
for  their  comfort,  for  their  education.  The  need  of  such  buildings 
for  the  comfort  and  the  health  of  the  children  will  be  conceded  with- 
out a  thought.  A  moment's  reflection  will  convince  any  reasonable 
man  that  attractive  and  well  arranged  school  buildings  have  an  edu- 
cational value. 

For  men  and  women  arc  largely  made  by  their  surroundings. 
Beauty  is  not  without  its  utility.  It  has  a  great  influence  on  the 
young.  Children  who  are  in  their  school  lives  to  have  attractive 
surroundings,  other  things  being  equal,  will  develop  into  men  and 
women  of  better  taste  than  those  who  have  not.  Life  is  not  all 
utility,  but  even  in  a  utilitarian  sense  taste  is  valuable.  It  culti- 
vates a  love  for  order,  a  fondness  for  system  that  has  much  io  do 
with  success. 

— American  School  Board  Journal, 


62  SCHOOL  BUILDINGS  AND  GROUNDS  IN   NEBRASKA 

Rural  Schoolhouse  Heating  and  Ventilation 

BY  S.  J.   RACE,  REDWOOD  FALLS,   MINN. 

The  problem  of  warming  and  ventilating  small  schoolhouses  in 
rural  districts  where  a  common  stove  must  furnish  all  the  heat  that 
is  used  is  one  of  no  small  importance.  Common  sense  here  as  else- 
where will  achieve  the  highest  results. 

As  a  rule  the  teacher  must  take  care  of  the  fires.  He  arrives  at 
eight  o'clock  and  finds  the  fire  burning  low,  or  else  has  gone  out, 
with  an  average  temperature  of  45  degrees.  By  nine  o'clock  he  has 
managed  to  raise  the  temperature  to  70  degrees. 

It  is  a  barbarous  task  that  some  school  trustees  set  forth  for 
female  teachers,  who  are  expected  to  wade  through  the  snow,  some- 
times a  mile,  and  then  go  into  an  icy  cold  room  and  there  build  a 
fire  and  await  the  warming  of  the  room.  Many  trustees  have  fires 
built  in  mid-winter.  It  is  economy  to  do  so.  No  teacher  is  fitted  to 
begin  the  day's  work,  if  already  her  strength  has  been  overtaxed  by 
exposure  in  cold  schoolrooms. 

There  is  one  thing  sure,  the  doors  and  windows  must  fit  snug  and 
tight.  All  exposed  windows  must  be  provided  with  storm  sash.  The 
stove  must  be  large  enough  to  do  the  work  easily  without  crowding. 
Fully  one-half  the  stoves  in  use  are  too  small.  The  fire  pot  should 
be  at  least  sixteen  inches  in  diameter  and  fully  twenty  inches  deep. 
Nearly  all  modern  stoves  are  fitted  with  sufficient  check  drafts  so 
that  a  fire  is  at  all  times  under  perfect  control.  No  matter  how  large 
the  fire  pot  is,  if  the  heat  is  not  wanted,  extra  fuel  is  not  consumed. 

Hard  coal  as  fuel  for  schoolrooms  is  without  doubt  the  best,  the 
most  satisfactory,  and  the  cleanest  fuel.  With  it,  fire  in  a  good 
stove  can  be  retained  all  night,  thus  giving  a  warm  room  in  the 
morning. 

There  is  no  reason  why  the  small  rural  school  cannot  be  provided 
with  an  adequate  system  of  warming  and  ventilation.  The  physical 
welfare  of  pupil  and  teacher  demands  it.  Health  is  wealth.  The 
cost  should  not  exceed  fifty  dollars.  This  allows  for  rebuilding  the 
chimney  from  the  foundation.  I  would  recommend  a  single  flue 
12  X  16  inches.  This  will  give  a  chimney  with  an  outside  measure- 
ment of  16  X  24  inches.  We  have  tried  double  flue  chimneys,  with 
two  flues,  each  8x  12  and  12  x  12  inches,  respectively.    They  work 


INTERMEDIATE  DEPARTMENT,  EUSTIS 


i 


INTERMEDIATE  DEPARTMENT,  EUSTIS 


PLYMOUTH  PUBLIC  SCHOOL 


GRAMMAR  DEPARTMENT,  PLYMOUTH 


SCHOOL  BUILDINGS  AND  GROUNDS  IN  NEBRASKA  65 

well.  But  a  single  flue  works  somewhat  better.  The  flue  is  warmer, 
and  hence  the  outward  and  upward  movement  of  the  foul  air  is 
better. 

The  iron  register  12  x  16  inches  for  opening  measurement  should 
go  into  the  chimney  within  four  inches  from  the  floor  (don't  put 
any  in  the  chimney  near  the  ceiling).  Place  the  stove  in  a  corner, 
the  one  most  out  of  the  way.  Don't  put  it  in  the  center  of  the  room. 
It  is  in  the  way  then. 

Cut  a  hole  in  the  floor  10  x  14  inches,  over  which  place  an  iron 
register.  Connect  this  opening  with  a  box  10x10  inches  wide  and 
long  enough  to  reach  from  the  register  in  the  floor  to  the  outside  of 
the  foundation.  Cover  the  end  of  the  box  with  a  coarse  wire  screen 
to  keep  out  any  animals.  The  box  may  be  of  wood  or  galvanized 
iron.  Wood  I  believe  is  preferable.  Surround  the  stove  with  a  cir- 
cular galvanized  iron  jacket  6  feet  high  and  from  36  to  40  inches  in 
diameter.  The  stove  will  determine  the  diameter  of  the  jacket. 
Measure  the  diagonal  base  of  the  stove  to  determine  the  diameter  of 
the  jacket.  Have  a  door  23^  feet  by  4  feet  cut  in  the  jacket  for  re- 
moving the  ashes  and  feeding  the  fire.  Have  the  jacket  strongly 
made.  See  to  it  that  the  door  in  the  jacket  is  properly  arranged  so 
that  ashes  may  easily  be  removed. 

I  am  often  asked  by  school  trustees,  if  the  stove  were  placed  in 
the  center  of  the  room,  will  not  the  heat  be  more  uniformly  dis- 
tributed ?  I  do  not  see  how  it  can  be.  By  this  plan  all  the  heat  in 
the  stove  is  forced  by  the  flow  of  pure  air  from  the  outside  through 
the  fresh  air  box,  directly  to  within  a  few  feet  from  the  ceiling.  The 
only  escape  for  it  is  through  the  foul  air  register  in  the  chimney  near 
the  floor.  The  escape  is  by  pressure.  In  a  recent  test  of  six  school- 
houses  the  greatest  variation  found  was  three  degrees,  when  meas- 
ured the  same  distance  from  the  floor.  The  thermometer  should 
hang  not  to  exceed  forty  inches  from  the  floor. 

— The  American  School  Board  Journal,  Chicago,  July,  ipoi. 


66  SCHOOL  BUILDINGS  AND  GROUNDS  IN   NEBRASKA 

Principles  of  Ventilating  and  Heating 

(From  School  Sanitation  and  Decoration,  with  permission  of  the 
pubHshers,  D.  C.  Heath  &  Co.,  Boston.    Extracts  from  Chapter  III.) 

Sir  Edwin  Chadwick  did  not  exaggerate  when  he  said  that  good 
ventilation,  heating  and  lighting  of  a  schoolroom  will  augment  the 
capacity  of  attention  of  the  pupils  by  at  least  one-fifth  as  compared 
with  that  of  the  children  taught  in  schoolrooms  of  common  construc- 
tion. In  order  to  ventilate  a  schoolroom  properly,  it  is  necessary 
to  remove  quickly  the  air  vitiated  by  respiration,  and  to  replace  it 
with  fresh  air.  This  must  be  done  without  producing  perceptible 
draughts.  The  oxygen  obtained  from  the  air  is  absolutely  essential 
for  the  continuance  of  all  forms  of  animal  life,  school  children  not 
excepted. 

Expired  air  contains  about  four  per  cent  of  carbonic  acid  gas,  be- 
sides having  its  volume  of  oxygen  diminished  by  about  the  same 
amount.  Furthermore,  this  expired  air  .has  become  considerably 
warmer,  and  has  acquired  a  large  quantity  of  water  vapor  from  the 
lungs  and  air  passages.  Carbonic  acid  gas  is  unsuitable  for  the 
support  of  healthy  respiration.  It  will  not  support  combustion,  as 
is  shown  by  plunging  a  lighted  taper  into  it.  Animal  life  is  almost 
as  suddenly  extinguished  when  placed  in  an  atmosphere  of  it.  Mix- 
tures of  this  gas,  with  the  common  air  in  different  proportions,  give 
rise  to  various  symptoms  that  indicate  incomplete  oxidation  of  the 
blood,  and  in  some  cases  cause  slow  death.  However,  the  carbonic 
acid  gas  that  occurs  in  the  expired  air  from  man  or  animals  seems 
to  be  far  different  in  its  effects  from  the  carbonic  acid  gas  derived 
from  purely  chemical  sources.  Carbonic  acid  gas  is  in  itself  odor- 
less, and  yet  when  we  enter  a  crowded  and  poorly  ventilated  school- 
room we  can  always  detect  a  very  disagreeable  odor.  This  is  caused 
by  volatile,  organic  matter,  which  comes  off  from  the  body  in  the 
process  of  respiration,  and  which  is  the  most  vicious  constituent  of 
expired  air.  It  is  invisible  and  is  very  difficult  to  measure  or  an- 
alyze even  by  the  most  delicate  chemical  methods.  It  is  this  which 
we  notice  when  we  enter  a  close  room,  and,  being  organic  matter,  it 
is  subject  to  putrefaction.  While  it  takes  a  large  quantity  of  car- 
bonic acid  gas  to  become  injurious,  a  very  small  quantity  of  this 
organic  poison  may  do  much  harm.    It  is  possible,  however,  to  meas- 


SCHOOL  BUILDINGS  AND  GROUNDS  IN  NEBRASKA  69 

ure  the  carbonic  acid  gas  quite  accurately.  And  as  the  organic  mat- 
ter increases  in  direct  proportion  with  the  carbonic  acid,  we  can  use 
the  measure  of  the  carbonic  acid  as  the  indicator  of  the  amount  of 
poisonous  material.  In  other  words,  we  make  our  tests  for  this  or- 
ganic matter  by  measuring  accurately  the  percentage  of  carbonic 
acid.  It  is  an  important  fact  for  us  to  bear  in  mind  that  carbonic 
acid  gas,  as  it  comes  from  combustion  or  respiration,  always  appears 
in  bad  company.  If,  for  example,  it  is  the  result  of  combustion  of 
coal,  it  is  usually  accompanied  by  sulphurous  acid,  a  poisonous  gas ; 
and  if  it  is  the  result  of  respiration,  it  is  always  accompanied  by  these 
minute  quantities  of  volatile,  organic  poisons. 

EFFECTS  OF  BAD  AIR 

There  are  several  things  about  expired  air  that  directly  affect  the 
human  organism.  Expired  air  has  less  oxygen,  contains  consider- 
able carbonic  acid  gas,  together  with  minute  quantities  of  poisonous 
organic  matter ;  it  has  a  large  amount  of  watery  vapor  and  is 
warmer.  That  these  factors  have  evil  effects,  especially  when  they 
are  in  a  concentrated  condition,  has  been  unhappily  proved  in  cer- 
tain well-known  instances.  In  the  Black  Hole  at  Calcutta,  146  per- 
sons were  confined  in  a  space  18  feet  each  way,  with  two  small  win- 
dows on  one  side.  On  the  next  morning  123  were  found  dead,  and 
the  remaining  23  were  very  ill. 

It  must  not  be  supposed,  however,  that  no  ill  results  follow  a  com- 
paratively small  degree  of  pollution,  because  these  results  are  not 
immediately  apparent.  A  general  lowering  of  strength  and  vigor  is 
produced,  and  a  greater  proneness  to  fall  victim  to  respiratory  and 
other  diseases.  The  drowsiness  and  languor  so  frequently  noticed 
in  school  children  arc,  to  the  intelligent  teacher,  not  an  indication 
of  wilful  inattention,  but  of  the  need  of  purer  air.  Yawning,  again, 
is  a  cry  of  the  nervous  system  for  purer  blood,  i.  c,  for  blood  con- 
taining more  oxygen  and  less  effete  matter. 

It  is  in  the  highest  degree  unfair  to  expect  the  brains  of  children 
to  be  active  in  the  exercise  of  their  functions  while  they  are  provided 
with  blood  that  is  vitiated  by  respiratory  impurities,  and  are  thus 
kept  in  a  species  of  mental  fog. 


70  SCHOOL  BUILDINGS  AND  GROUNDS  IN  NEBRASKA 

TESTS   FOR   BAD   AIR 

It  is  not  necessary  to  go  through  a  careful  chemical  analysis  to 
ascertain  the  amount  of  impurities  in  schoolroom  air.  It  is  accepted 
among  sanitarians  that  the  maximum  amount  of  carbonic  acid  gas 
permissible  is  .07  per  cent.  This  does  not  mean  that  the  carbonic 
acid  gas  is  the  dangerous  thing,  but  that  amount  of  carbonic  acid 
gas  indicates  the  greatest  amount  of  organic  impurity  consistent 
with  the  preservation  of  health.  There  is  no  simple  test  for  the  or- 
ganic impurities  in  the  air,  which  are  really  more  important,  because 
more  pernicious,  than  the  carbonic  acid ;  but  inasmuch  as  the  car- 
bonic acid  is  nearly  always  in  exact  proportion  to  the  organic  matter, 
the  test  for  the  former  answers  equally  well  for  the  latter. 

This  test,  combined  with  the  sense  of  smell  on  coming  directly 
from  the  external  air,  gives  most  reliable  indications,  which  should 
never  be  neglected. 

A  simple  and  rapid  method  for  estimating  the  amount  of  carbonic 
acid  in  the  air  is  described  as  follows  by  Dr.  J.  B.  Cohen : 

( 1 )  A  standard  solution  of  limewater.  Pure  water  is  left  in  con- 
tact with  slacked  lime  until  saturated.  The  clear  decanted  liquid  is 
diluted  with  99  times  its  own  volume  of  distilled  water.  Make  one 
quart  or  one  liter. 

(2)  Phenolphthalein  solution  is  made  by  dissolving  one  part  of 
phenolphthalein  in  500  times  its  weight  of  diluted  alcohol  (equal 
parts  of  pure  alcohol  and  water).  Make  three  ounces  or  100  cubic 
centimeters. 

(3)  A  twenty-ounce  stoppered  bottle  with  (preferably)  a  hollow 
stopper  marked  to  hold  three  drams  or  ten  cubic  centimeters. 

A  sample  of  air  is  taken  by  blowing  air  into  the  clean  stoppered 
bottle  with  bellows.  Six  minims  or  one-third  of  a  cubic  centimeter 
of  the  phenolphthalein  solution  is  then  added,  and  the  measured 
volume  of  lime  water  is  run  into  the  hollow  stopper.  The  lime- 
water  is  poured  into  the  bottle,  the  stopper  inserted,  the  time  noted, 
and  the  contents  vigorously  shaken.  If  the  red  color  of  the  liquid 
disappears  in  three  minutes  or  less,  the  atmosphere  is  unfit  for 
respiration. 

The  stock  of  limewater  should  be  kept  in  a  bottle  furnished  with 
a  top  and  coated  within  with  a  film  of  parafifin,  and  in  the  neck  an 
open  tube  should  be  inserted  containing  pieces  of  caustic  soda  or 


SCHOOL  BUILDINGS  AND  GROUNDS  IN   NEBRASKA  73 

quicklime.  The  phenolphthalein  solution  is  best  measured  by  means 
of  a  narrow  glass  tube  passing  through  the  cork  of  the  bottle  upon 
which  the  measured  volume  is  marked.  If  the  cork  fits  easily,  the 
liquid  may  be  forced  up  exactly  to  the  mark  by  pushing  on  the 
cork. 

The  following  are  estimates  made  in  this  manner  compared  with 
the  results  obtained  by  Pettenkofer's  method : 

Time  Per  cent  volume  of 

Minutes  Carbonic  Acid 

I'A  0.1618 

^H  0-1379 

iK  0.1279 

3/4  0.07716 

4/4  0.05142 

5 0.0464 

7/2  0.0351 

This  method  may  be  used  in  the  classroom  at  any  time,  but  care 
should  be  taken  to  insure  the  cleanliness  of  the  bottles  and  the 
purity  of  the  standard  solution.  No  bottles  that  have  contained  any 
acid  or  alkali  should  ever  be  used,  unless  the  bottles  have  been 
thoroughly  cleansed  and  rinsed. 

In  taking  the  sample  of  air  with  the  bellows,  it  is  well  to  have  a 
rubber  tube  five  or  six  feet  long  attached  to  the  inlet  opening  on  the 
bellows,  thus  guarding  against  vitiation  of  the  air  by  the  experi- 
menter. The  school  children  should  not  gather  about  the  appa- 
ratus, as  they  might  by  their  breathing  interfere  with  the  results. 
On  the  other  hand,  it  is  well  to  have  them  interested  in  the  air  tests 
and  as  far  as  possible  know  what  is  being  done ;  they  should  also  be 
told  the  results. 

VENTILATION  REQUIREMENTS 

It  has  been  seen  that  for  healthy  respiration  air  siunild  never 
contain  more  than  .07  per  cent  carbonic  acid.  Some  authorilics, 
however,  place  this  figure  at  .06  per  cent.  We  will  place  our  stand- 
ard at  the  former  figure.  Ventilation,  then,  should  have  for  its 
object  the  keeping  of  the  amount  of  carbonic  acid  gas  within  this 
linut. 

Each  individual  gives  off  in  the  process  of  respiration  316  cubic 
centimeters  of  carbonic  acid  gas  per  minute,  so  that  it  requires  not 
less  than  590  cubic  meters  of  fresh  air  per  hour  to  keep  each  indi- 


74  SCHOOL  BUILDINGS  AND  GROUNDS  IN  NEBRASKA 

vidual  supplied  with  air  containing  less  than  .07  per  cent  of  carbonic 
acid  gas.  Parkes,  an  authority  on  hygiene,  gives  the  following 
figures  for  the  amount  of  fresh  air  that  should  be  supplied  to  per- 
sons in  health  and  repose: 

For  adult  males 3»500  cu.  ft.  per  head  per  hour. 

For  adult  females 3,000  cu.  ft.  per  head  per  hour. 

For  children   2,000  cu.  ft.  per  head  per  hour. 

For  mixed  community 3,000  cu.  ft.  per  head  per  hour. 

In  actual  practice,  in  the  ventilation  of  schools,  2,000  cubic  feet 
per  hour  is  usually  taken  as  the  quantity  of  air  that  is  practicable  to 
furnish  to  pupils,  and  no  plan  or  system  of  ventilation  should  aim 
at  giving  a  smaller  supply.  No  air  should  be  considered  too  pure  for 
school  children.  Each  pupil  should  be  provided  with  from  25  to  30 
cubic  feet  of  fresh  air  per  minute,  and  this  should  be  distributed 
without  producing  draughts,  and  have  a  temperature  of  not  less  than 
60°  nor  more  than  68°  Fahr. 

The  following  rules  respecting  ventilation  are  of  importance : 
(i)  The  air  should  be  drawn  from  a  pure  source. 

(2)  No  draught  or  current  should  be  perceptible.  Often  the 
remedy  for  a  draught  is  not  to  close  the  opening,  but  to  make  others 
in  order  to  increase  the  area  through  which  the  air  enters. 

(3)  The  entry  of  air  should  be  constant,  not  at  intervals. 

(4)  An  abundant  exit  for  impure  air  should  be  provided  sep- 
arate from  the  points  of  entrance  of  fresh  air.  In  order  to  maintain 
a  given  standard  of  purity,  it  is  necessary  to  provide  for  the  re- 
moval of  a  volume  of  impure  air  equal  to  that  of  the  pure  air  which 
is  supplied.  In  order  to  satisfactorily  fulfil  all  these  requirements, 
it  is  necessary  to  iinderstand  fully  the  several  systems  of  ventilation. 

NATURAL   VENTILATION 

There  are  two  natural  agencies  that  are  constantly  assisting  to 
bring  about  ventilation :  the  diffusion  of  gases,  and  the  air  currents 
formed  by  differences  in  temperature. 

Diffusion,  by  which  the  purer  outside  gases  tend  to  mix  with 
the  impure  internal  air,  is  constantly  going  on,  though  under  or- 
dinary circumstances  the  rate  of  diffusion  is  slow,  and  the  amount 
of  interchange  thus  effected  is  but  small. 

Differences  in  temperature  cause  much  more  active  movements 
of  air,  warm  air  floating  to  the  top  of  cold  air,  as  oil  floats  to  the 
top  of  water.    The  air  in  a  room  is  warmed  by  the  inmates  and  by 


AN  INTERIOR  VIEW 


A  I'l^RSPIvCTIVI'    VII'AV 

New  Steele  School,  Colorado  S])riiigs,  Colorado  —  From  American  School  Hoard 

Journal,  Chicago,  April,  1901.     (See  also  plans.) 


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SCHOOL  BUILDINGS  AND  GROUNDS  IN   NEBRASKA  ')'] 

the  stove,  gas  or  other  source  of  artificial  heat.  Cold  air  tends  to 
rush  in  from  every  opening,  and,  being  heavier  than  warm  air, 
falls  toward  the  floor,  producing  a  draught.  The  great  problem  of 
ventilation  is  to  secure  a  sufficient  interchange  of  air  without  causing 
draughts.  The  entrance  of  air  at  any  temperature  below  50°  into  a 
room  whose  temperature  is  65°  or  even  70°  is  almost  certain  to  be 
accompanied  by  a  draught ;  hence  it  is  necessary  to  warm  the  enter- 
ing air  during  the  winter  months. 

If  a  free  entrance  for  pure  air  is  not  provided,  the  influence  of 
the  higher  temperature  in  the  schoolroom  may  produce  an  aspiration 
of  air  from  undesirable  places.  Thus  it  not  uncommonly  happens 
that  air  is  drawn  directly  from  underground  cellars,  defective 
drains,  water-closet  rooms,  and  so  on. 

For  practical  purposes  there  are  two  kinds  of  ventilation,  natural 
and  artificial.  The  former  is  produced  by  the  ordinary  interchange 
of  air  when  doors  and  windows  are  allowed  to  remain  open.  The 
latter  depends  upon  the  assistance  of  the  heating  apparatus,  or  of 
some  mechanical  appliance  for  forcing  the  air  into  the  rooms  or 
sucking  it  out  from  them.  Natural  ventilation  is  possible  only  dur- 
ing the  warmer  months.  The  colder  the  outside  air,  the  more  vio- 
lent the  draughts  when  it  is  admitted  to  the  warm  room.  It  is  un- 
safe to  rely  upon  it  for  a  supply  of  pure  air  when  all  doors,  windows 
and  ventilators  are  closed.  The  diffusion  of  the  outside  air  through 
the  walls,  cracks  around  doors  and  windows,  etc.,  is  not  sufficient 
to  purify  the  air,  and,  if  depended  upon,  will  result  in  the  foul  at- 
mosphere only  too  common  in  schoolrooms. 

In  order  that  natural  ventilation  may  be  more  effectual,  all  cor- 
ridors should  be  large  and  airy,  and  have  windows  opening  direct  to 
the  outer  air.  No  schoolroom  plan  which  does  not  fulfil  these  con- 
ditions can  be  regarded  as  satisfactory. 

In  the  methods  of  ventilation  heretofore  described,  the  air  is  ad- 
mitted at  the  same  temperature  as  the  external  air.  Such  methods 
have,  however,  but  a  limited  application  in  the  northern  United 
States.  During  a  large  portion  of  the  year,  in  order  to  prevent 
dangerous  draughts,  the  incoming  air  requires  warming. 

When  the  external  air  reaches  60°,  or  better  still  65°,  the  air 
may  be  freely  admitted.  Open  windows  are  by  far  the  best  means  of 
ventilation,  and  during  the  school  recess  all  the  windows  should  be 
thrown  open,  opposite  windows  if  possible,  or  doors  and  windows, 
in  order  that  the  rooms  may  be  thoroughly  flushed  with  air.    Ordi- 


78 


SCHOOL  BUILDINGS  AND  GROU^IDS  IN   NEBKASKA 


nar\-  ventilation  commonly  leaves  a  considerable  proportion  of 
organic  volatile  matter  from  respiration  hanging  about  the  room, 
while  the  rapid  currents  of  air  during  the  flushing  of  a  room  carry 
this  away. 

Natural  ventilation,  as  a  method  of  purifying  schoolroom  air, 
must  be  discarded  entirely  during  the  winter  months. 

ARTIFICIAL  VENTILATION 

Artificial  or  forced  ventilation  refers  to  those  methods  which  em- 
ploy some  artificial  means  for  moving  air.  Nearly  all  of  such  sys- 
tems depend  upon  one  of  two  things :  ( i )  the  rarifying  power  of 
heat  applied  to  air  in  flues, — the  so-called  gravity  system, — and  (2) 
the  mechanical  power  applied  through  the  medium  of  fans.  In  the 
first  method,  the  gravity  system,  the  problem  is  to  draw  tlie  cold 
bad  air  out  of  the  rooms,  and  at  the  same  time  draw  warm  fresh  air 
in.  Warm  air  is  lighter  than  cold  and  will  always  rise.  Carbonic 
acid,  at  the  temperature  at  which  it  is  generated  in  the  lungs,  is 
considerably  lighter  than  air,  but  as  soon  as  it  cools  to  the  ordinary 
temperature  it  becomes  heavier  and  of  course  falls. 

1^^^  The  object    of 

^^■__     _     this  gravity  sys- 

tem is  to  remove 
the  cold  bad  air 
from  the  bottom 
of  the  room,  leav- 
ing that  which  is 
fresh  and  warm. 
It  is  not  a  very 
diiificult  matter  to 
create  a  strong 
current  by  heat- 
ing air  and  allow- 
ing this  heated 
air  to  pass  up 
through    a   shaft 

or  stack.  If  this  stack  is  connected  with  the  outlets  lor  the  bad  air,  the 
foul  air  will  be  withdrawn  from  the  rooms  by  the  force  of  the  currenr, 
which  tends  to  create  a  vacuum.  The  larger  the  number  of  outlets 
through  which  the  air  is  being  drawn  out,  the  less  chance  there  is 


Fig.  3  —  Gravity  system,  with  in'et  and  outlet  on  the 
same  side  of  the  room 


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COLERIDGE  PUBLIC  SCHOOL 


SCHOOL  BUILDINGS  AND  GROUNDS  IN  NEBRASKA 


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for  the  creation  of  draughts  along  the  floor  of  the  room.  Inlets  for 
fresh  air  must  be  provided,  and  proper  arrangements  made  for 
heating  it,  so  that  it  will  be  circulated  through  all  parts  of  the  room 
at  the  proper  temperature.  It  is  readily  seen  that  this  fresh  air 
does  not  have  to  be  forced  into  the  room  through  the  inlets  because 
the  ventilating  shaft  tends  to  produce  a  vacuum  in  the  room,  and 
the  fresh  warm  air  will  be  sucked  in  to  fill  the  vacuum.  The  action 
of  the  air  currents  in  such  a  system  is  well  shown  in  Fig.  3. 

The  warm  air, 
if  al'owed  to  en- 
ter high  in  the 
wall  of  the  room, 
makes  a  complete 
circuit  of  the 
room  without 
creating  much 
draught,  and  is 
sucked  out 
through  the  out- 
let by  means  of 
the  sucking  ac- 
tion caused  by 
the  current  of  air 
in  the  ventilating 
shaft.  While 
these  currents 
may  be  slightly 
alTected  by  nat- 
ural ventilation 
through  doors 
and  uiiidows,  the 
variation  will  not 
interfere  mate- 
rial'y  with  the 
proper  results 
being  attained. 
The  d  i  a  g  r  a  m 
provides,   as  can 

Fio.  5. —  Gravity  system,  with  inlet  near  the  floor  and  i-t       i 

outlet  near  the  ceilinfc  on  the  opposite  side  rcaCUly    DC     SCCn, 

for   both    inlet    and    outlet    on    the   same  side  of   the  room.      Other 


FiQ.  4. —  Gravity  system,  with  inlet  and  outlet  on  oppo- 
site sides  and  near  the  floor 


82 


SCHOOL  BUILDINGS  AND  GROUNDS  IN   NEBRASKA 


locations  for  these  openings  have  been  advocated;  for  instance 
the  warm  air  inlet  may  be  in  the  floor,  and  the  vent  on  the 
opposite  side  of  the  room  and  near  the  floor.  The  result  of  such 
an  arrangement  is  shown  in  Fig.  4.  In  this  case  the  distril;ution  of 
the  warm  air  is  not  complete. 

Still  another  arrangement  is  to  have  the  warm  air  inlet  on  the  floor 

at  one  side  of  the 
room,  and  the 
outlet  high  up  on 
the  other  side. 
This  gives  still 
less  distribution 
of  the  warm  fresh 
air  throughout 
the  room,  as  is 
shown  in  Fig.  5. 
Methods  have 
been  tried  intro- 
ducing the  warm 
air  rather  high  up 
in  the  room,  and 
withdrawing  it 
from  the  oppo- 
site side  near  the 
floor.  Figure  6 
shows  that  the 
results  are  simi- 
lar to  the  last  ar- 
rangement. 
These  last  cases 
are  bad  enough, 
but  there  are 
others  even 
worse. 

Figure  7  shows 
the  inlet  high  and 

the  outlet  nearly  opposite.  Where  this  plan  is  adopted,  any  escape  of  the 
vitiated  cool  air  must  be  brought  about  through  the  natural  ventilation  of 
doors  and  windows,  or  by  disturbance  of  the  lower  atmospheric  stratum 


FiG.  6.— Gravity  system,  with  inlet  high  and  outlet  near 
the  floor  on  the  opposite  side 


Fig.  7. —  Gravity  system,  with  inlet  high  and  outlet  high 
and  opposite 


CKDAR  BI^UFFS  PUBLIC  .SCHOOL 


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MERNA  PUBLIC  SCHOOL 


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ANSELMO  PUBLIC  SCHOOL 


SCHOOL  BUILDINGS  AND  GROUNDS  IN  NEBRASKA  85 

by  the  occupants  of  the  room.  Careful  experiments  have  been  tried  in 
glass  rooms  by  ventilation  experts,  who  have  watched  the  course  taken 
by  the  air  currents  under  these  different  conditions,  the  currents  be- 
ing marked  by  smoke  and  thus  easily  studied. 

In  practice,  it  is  found  advisable  to  have  several  outlets  for  the 
air  rather  than  one,  as  indicated  in  the  diagrams.  Thus  there  is 
less  chance  for  the  production  of  draughts,  and  a  better  circulation 
is  afforded.  These  gravity  systems  usually  arrange  for  a  mixing 
valve,  by  means  of  which  the  temperature  of  the  fresh  air  is  regu- 
lated, it  being  possible  by  opening  or  closing  the  valve  to  introduce 
more  or  less  cold  air  directly  from  the  outside  as  occasion  demands. 
Automatic  regulators  (thermostats)  have  been  devised  and  in- 
stalled to  open  and  close  these  valves,  without  requiring  the  at- 
tention of  the  teacher.  In  many  instances  these  work  admirably, 
but  often  get  out  of  adjustment,  in  which  case  there  is  no  ventila- 
tion, and  either  too  little  or  too  much  heat. 

It  is  of  the  greatest  importance  in  the  introduction  of  this  or  any 
other  recognized  system  of  heating  and  ventilating  that  an  expert 
engineer  of  wide  experience  should  make  the  plans  and  complete 
the  arrangements.  Each  school  building  requires  a  special  study 
by  itself.  Two  buildings  constructed  on  exactly  the  same  architec- 
tural plans  might  require  entirely  different  heating  and  ventilating 
systems,  because  of  slightly  different  orientation  or  exposure.  It 
has  been  the  tendency  in  the  past  to  economize  on  systems  of  venti- 
lation; but  when  the  necessary  expensiveness  of  good  ventilation 
is  fairly  grasped  by  school  managers,  there  will  be  an  end  of  this 
attempt  to  save  money,  which  is  now  so  general.  Such  economiz- 
ing is  at  the  expense  of  the  children's  health  and  greatly  tends  to 
increase  our  mortality. 

The  other  method  of  artificial  ventilation,  that  requiring  mechan- 
ical means  to  force  fresh  air  into  the  rooms,  operates  in  exactly  the 
opposite  way  from  the  gravity  system.  That  is,  the  fresh  air  is 
forced  into  the  schoolroom  by  means  of  a  fan,  and  the  foul  air  is 
pushed  out  through  any  openings  in  the  rooms  and  passes  away 
through  a  stack.  The  air  in  the  rooms  in  such  a  system  as  this  is 
under  constant  pressure.  All  spaces  are  filled  with  air,  and  all  leak- 
age is  toward  the  outside.  Thus  the  entrance  of  contaminated  air 
from  any  outside  source  is  absolutely  prevented.  Such  a  system  as 
this,  in  distinction  from  the  vacuum  system,  is  called  the  plenum. 


86  SCHOOL  BUILDINGS  AND  GROUNDS  IN  NEBRASKA 

The  diagrams  shown  in  the  discussion  of  the  gravity  system  will 
answer  as  well  for  the  fan  system,  if  we  imagine  the  warm  air  to  be 
forced  into  the  room,  and  the  vitiated  air  to  be  pushed  out  through 
the  vents. 

The  plenum  has  one  great  advantage  over  the  vacuum  system,  in 
that  the  air  in  the  rooms  is  under  pressure,  and  there  is  no  oppor- 
tunity for  bad  air  to  leak  into  the  rooms  through  floors  or  walls.  Of 
course  the  air  that  is  warmed  and  distributed  must  be  taken  from  a 
pure  source,  and  this  leads  to  the  discussion  of  an  important  point. 
This  is  the  air  supply. 

The  air  must  never  be  taken  from  the  basement.  It  must  be  taken 
in  from  the  outside ;  and  the  condition  of  the  ground  over  which  it 
is  drawn  is  of  great  importance.  The  best  conditions  are  afforded 
by  a  grass  plot  that  can  always  be  kept  mown  and  clean.  If  neces- 
sary, it  should  be  fenced  off,  and  all  scraps  from  lunches,  loose 
papers,  apple  cores,  banana  skins,  etc.,  must  be  kept  from  it.  It 
should  be  the  cleanest  and  most  beautiful  spot  about  the  school,  and 
should  be  as  far  as  possible  from  the  part  of  the  bxiilding  in  which 
the  sanitaries  are  located.  In  this  way,  a  pure,  fresh  supply  is  as- 
sured, and  one  that  is  comparatively  free  from  dust.  In  warming 
the  air,  it  is  often  advisable  to  furnish  it  with  some  moisture.  This 
should  all  be  arranged  in  connection  with  the  heater.  A  room  that  is 
overheated  with  dry  air  is  very  oppressive. 

These  systems,  such  as  the  gravity  and  the  mechanical  systems, 
require  the  expenditure  of  considerable  coal  or  gas  in  order  to  heat 
the  air  and  to  run  the  necessary  machinery.  No  system  of  warm- 
ing and  ventilating  has  as  yet  been  devised  which  will  work  auto- 
matically. Any  system,  if  it  is  good  for  anything,  must  be  super- 
vised by  a  competent  man.  Brains  are  required  as  well  as  coal  for 
an  apparatus  designed  for  this  great  purpose.  The  man  who  is 
responsible  for  the  running  of  the  heating  and  ventilating  appa- 
ratus not  uncommonly  regards  good  ventilation  as  inimical  to  his 
interests,  and  in  case  the  heat  is  lowered,  will  sometimes  stop  the 
valve  leading  to  the  exit  flues,  thus  penning  up  the  hot  impure  air, 
rather  than  supply  the  extra  fuel  required.  Of  course  it  is  for  nis 
interest  to  appear  economical  of  coal.  He  is,  therefore,  under  con- 
stant temptation  to  check  the  outflow  of  warm  air  from  the  rooms 
and  to  minimize  the  period  of  flushing  them  with  the  external  air 
after  school  hours. 


*msu 


WEST  UNION,  CUSTER  COUNTY,  PUBLIC  SCHOOL 


DISTRICT  SCIIOOI,  N...   I,,  1  lA.M  I  I.T*  )\  CniNTV 


DISTRICT  SCHOOL  Xo.  13,  HALL  COUNTY 


DISTRICT  SCHOOL  No.  li,  HALL  COUNTY 


I 


SCHOOL  BUILDINGS  AND  GROUNDS  IN  NEBRASKA 


89 


Various  other  methods  of  heating  schoolrooms  are  in  common 
use.  One  that  deserves  some  attention  is  that  which  utiUzes  steam 
for  heating,  the  radiators  being  placed  in  schoolrooms  next  to  the 
outside  walls.  Openings  are  cut  through  the  walls  at  the  base  of 
these  radiators,  permitting  the  outside  air  to  enter  the  room  and 
become  heated  by  passing  between  and  around  the  various  pipes  of 
the  radiator.  The  outlets  for  bad  air  are  usually  placed  on  the 
other  side  of  the  room  from  the  radiators,  thus  securing  a  fairly 
good  circulation  of  the  air  throughout  the  room. 

The  action  of 
such  a  system  on 
the  air  currents 
in  the  roo.n  may 
be  seen  in  Fig.  8. 
Steam-heating, 
if  the  radiators 
are  in  the  school- 
rooms, is  not  ad- 
visable unless 
there  are  open- 
ings provided  for 
admitting     fresh 

air.  The  temperature  is  regulated  with  great  difificulty,  even  if  the 
valves  are  in  good  condition.  The  average  steam -heated  schoolroom  is 
overheated. 

In  smaller  schools  it  has  not  been  customary  to  introduce  any  of 
these  more  or  less  complicated  systems  because  of  the  expense,  and 
yet  none  of  the  other  methods  that  have  been  devised  for  them  are 
perfectly  satisfactory.  The  unjacketed  stove,  when  placed  in  the 
schoolroom  itself,  cannot  be  considered  with  favor.  It  is  true  that 
several  forms  of  stove  have  been  arranged  with  jackets,  double 
floors,  ventilating  shafts,  etc.,  but  even  then,  unless  conditions  are 
remarkably  in  their  favor,  such  heating  and  ventilating  apparatus 
will  not  work  with  satisfaction.  In  cold  weather,  in  particular,  such 
stoves  will  not  heat  the  room  equally.  Some  children  will  be  warm 
and  some  cold.  Stoves  without  any  system  of  jacketing  should 
never  be  used.  They  make  the  air  very  dry,  produce  a  close  smell, 
and  heat  the  room  only  on  the  side  where  the  stove  happens  to  be. 
The  distribution  of  the  warm  air  in  this  case  may  be  seen  in  Fig. 


Fig.  S. —  Steam  with  direct  radiation 


90 


SCHOOL  BUILDINGS  AND  GROUNDS  IN   NEBRASKA 


9.  If  this  Stove  is  jacketed,  and  proper  means  taken  to  heat  and  dis- 
tribute outside  air  and  to  remove  bad  air,  much  objection  is  re- 
moved. It  will  be  found,  however,  upon  taking  into  account  the 
expense  of  jacketing  the  stove,  providing  the  necessary  ventilation 
flues,  etc.,  required  to  make  it  work  satisfactorily,  that  the  expendi- 
ture incurred  will  not  be  very  far  from  that  required  for  the  con- 
struction of  a  cel- 
lar  and  furnace, 
and  the  latter 
system  would 
give  far  greater 
satisfaction.  One 
serious  objection 
to  having  the 
heating  appa- 
ratus  in  the 
schoolroom  i  s 
that  any  atten- 
tion which  it  may 
require  during 
school  hours  is  a 

Fig  9.-Theunjacketedstovc  ^^^^^   of    distrac- 

tion to  the  children. 

Fireplaces  are  considered  very  good  things  to  have  in  school- 
rooms, but  they  must  not  be  depended  upon  as  the  only  means  of 
heating  and  ventilating.  A  fireplace  furnishes  a  cheerful  warmth 
and  is  a  great  purifier  of  the  air,  but  its  heat  is  too  unequally  dis- 
tributed. Even  in  smaller  rooms  it  produces  cold  currents  of  air 
along  the  floor.  Attempts  have  been  made  to  utilize  the  heat  usually 
passing  up  the  chimney  and  wasted  by  the  fireplace,  by  means  of 
chambers  behind  the  fireplace.  In  this  way  external  air  is  warmed 
as  it  enters  the  room.  A  heater  constructed  on  this  plan  is  shown 
in  Fig.  10.  At  the  back  of  the  heater  is  an  air  chamber  communi- 
cating with  the  external  air. 

Air  admitted  through  the  opening  (a,  Fig.  10)  is  warmed  by  com- 
ing in  contact  with  the  fire-clay  {d),  which  separates  the  air  channel 
from  the  smoke  flue  (c).  The  warmed  air  leaves  the  air  channel  by 
the  grating  {b)  over  the  fireplace,  and  then  travels  along  "the  upper 


GlvM'^VA  WARD  SCHouI. 


GENEVA  PRIMARY  ROOM 


DISTRICT  SCHOOL  Xo.  7,  PERKINS  COUNTY 


DISTRICT  SCHOOL  No.  01,  RED  WILLOW  COUNTY 


School  buildings  and  grounds  in  Nebraska 


93 


part  of  the  room,  falling  to  the  floor  as  it  cools,  and  finally  escap- 
ing up  the  chimney. 


Fig.  10.— Slow-combustion  venti'ating  stove 

1.  Section  of  stove  showing  —  a.  entrance  of  cold  air;  b,  entrance  of 

warmed  air  into  room;  c,  smoke  flue;  d,  fire-clay  back  of  stove. 

2.  Front  elevation  of  same  stove. 

The  distribution  of  air  currents  in  a  room  with  this  arrangement 
would  be  similar  to  that  shown  in  Fig.  3.  A  specially  arranged 
fireplace  of  the  kind  just  described  might  be  found  very  useful  in  a 
very  small  room,  but  in  the  larger  rooms  it  could  hardly  be  satis- 
factory by  itself. 


94  SCHOOL  BUILDINGS  AND  GROUNDS  IN  NEBRASKA 


The  Model  Schoolhouse  and  Grounds 

Before  entering  upon  our  work,  let  us  take  a  look  at  the  school- 
house.  Every  country  school  should  have  at  least  four  acres  sur- 
rounding the  building.  The  same  amount  of  space  would  be  a  great 
advantage  in  the  city,  but  is  hardly  practicable  yet.  There  are,  how- 
ever, a  great  many  improvements  that  might  be  introduced  into  the 
city  schools  without  entailing  any  great  additional  expense.  For 
instance,  the  school  buildings  might  be  smaller  and  more  numerous. 
No  schoolhouse  should  be  more  than  two  stories  high.  It  is  a  poor 
plan  to  build  one  large  school  of  five  or  six  stories  where  two  build- 
ings of  half  the  size  would  answer  the  purpose  better.  It  is  cruelty 
to  the  children  to  have  them  file  in  line  up  three  or  four  flights  of 
stairs  four  times  a  day,  and  at  recess  be  so  crowded  together  in  the 
playground  that  exercise  and  play  of  an  exhilarating  nature  are  out 
of  the  question. 

The  roughness  and  rudeness  that  prevail  upon  the  playgrounds  of 
many  large  public  schools  is  almost  entirely  due  to  the  poor  accom- 
modations for  the  number  of  pupils  enrolled.  It  would  be  far  wiser 
and  the' results  would  be  more  satisfactory  if  each  school  building 
were  limited  to  three  hundred  pupils.  This  would  allow  for  a  build- 
ing of  ten  rooms,  five  rooms  on  a  floor.  The  grounds  surrounding 
the  building  should  be  spacious.  This  matter  should  be  brought 
properly  and  persistently  before  the  Board  of  Finance  of  every 
city. 

In  most  of  the  public  school  buildings  of  the  cities  there  is  a  large 
basement  built  for  the  accommodation  of  the  students  in  wet 
weather.  The  buildings  range  in  height  from  three  to  five  or  six 
stories,  accommodating  from  eight  hundred  to  two  thousand  pupils. 
Now,  of  course  it  is  not  necessary  to  point  out  that  the  higher  the 
building  the  more  pupils  it  may  register  and  the  narrower  in  pro- 
portion is  the  basement  accommodation  which  must  be  used  in  wet 
weather;  for  the  students  are  not  allowed  to  remain  in  the  class 
room  during  recess.  Think  of  it  for  a  moment — two  thousand  pu- 
pils crowded  together  into  a  close  basement  on  a  damp,  foul  day ! 
Do  you  imagine  they  derive  much  benefit  from  the  "recreation 
hour" ? 

All  intelligent  men  and  women  will  agree  that  the  crowded  con- 


DISTRICT  SCHOOL  N>'.  II,  HAMILTON  COUNTY 


DISTRICT  SCHOOL  No.  33,  LINCOLN  COUNTY 


ABIE  PUBLIC  SCHOOL 


TAYLOR  I'UIiLIC   SCHOOL 


SCHOOL  BUILDINGS  AND  GROUNDS  IN   NEBRASKA 


97 


PW/^/^, 


THE  COUNTRY  SCHOOLHOUSE  AS  IT  IS 


THE  MODEL  SCHOOLHOUSE  AND  GROUNDS 

dition  and  fearful  lack  of  sanitary  measures  in  many  of  our  schools 
is  nothing  less  than  criminal.  If  we  arc  going  to  build  bodies  and 
brains  for  useful  men  and  women,  the  conditions  inust  be  favorable, 
and  viewed  even  from  the  standpoint  of  political  economy,  hygiene 
and  physical  culture  in  the  school  are  absolutely  indispensable.  Un- 
less the  most  careful  attention  is  given  to  these  details,  the  herding 


98 


SCHOOL  BUILDINGS  AND  GROUNDS  IN  NEBRASKA 


together  of  the  children  causes  a  weakening  of  the  moral  forces, 
spreads  disease,  and  sends  out,  poorly  equipped  for  fighting  the 
battles  of  life,  the  children  who  are  to  represent  us  in  the  years  to 
come.  Blessed  is  that  community  which  has  on  its  school  board 
large-hearted  men  of  broad  and  liberal  culture.  At  least  one  o.' 
these  should  be  a  live,  progressive  physician  who  loves  his  profes- 
sion and  his  fellowmen. 


THE  HOPE  OF  OUR  COUNTRY 

The  country  schools  have  great  advantages  in  many  respects. 
They  are  rarely  more  than  one  story  high — a  tremendous  advantage. 
They  are  usually  of  ample  size.  The  heat  is  supplied  by  wood  stoves 
or  grates,  and  in  damp  weather  the  children  are  allowed  to  remain 
in  the  class  room  instead  of  being  turned  into  a  dark  basement  with 
hundreds  of  other  little  pupils.  The  hope  of  this  country  rests 
largely  with  the  country  schools,  where  the  educational  advantages 
may  not  be  so  good,  but  where  the  physical  advantages  are  far 

greater. 

But  why  not  provide  such 
places  as  the  pupils  will  love  to 
gather  in?  A  pretty  little 
school  building,  with  grounds 
neatly  laid  off  and  a  few  shrubs 
and  flowers  to  add  attractive- 
ness, will  often  arouse  and  in- 
spire pupils  £>s  nothing  else  will. 
We  present  a  view  of  the  aver-, 
age  country  school  and  also  a 
view  and  ground-plan  of  such  a 
school  as  we  would  recommend 

Plan  of  Model  bchoolhouse  and  Grounds  ^q  widc-awakc  and  prOgrCSsive 

school  boards.  It  does  not  cost  one  bit  more  to  build  a  model  school- 
house  than  to  build  a  poor  one.  The  children  themselves  would 
gladly  plant  flowers  and  trees,  and  keep  the  grounds  in  proper 
condition. 

The  heating  arrangements  and  the  poor  sanitary  arrangements  of 
the  city  schools  are  multiplying  tuberculosis  and  many  other  dis- 
eases, and  gradually  undermining  the  health  of  the  little  pupils  who 
attend  them.    Very  few  homes  are  kept  at  the  high  temperature  of 


1 


,      E.H.M«^»i^ 


SCRIBNHR  rUBl.lC  SCHOOL 


BURWELL  rUBI^IC  .SCHOOL 


SCHOOL  BUILDINGS  AND  GROUNDS  IN  NEBRASKA 


lOI 


the  city  schoolroom,  and  even  before  the  children  get  to  their  homes, 
after  being  cooped  up  for  hours  in  an  overheated  and  ill-ventilated 
atmosphere,  they  have  become  chilled  to  the  bone,  and  the  founda- 
tion is  laid  for  diseases  that  will  wreck  the  strongest  constitution. 
It  is  this  sudden  transition  from  extreme  heat  to  extreme  cold  that 
causes  many  a  little  one  to  draw  in  his  chest  and  round  his  shoulders 

in  the  effort  to  "hug" 
himself  away  from  the 
cold. 

Now,  it  may  not  be 
possible  to  change  the 
conditions  which  prevail 
as  to  the  size  and  shape 
of  the  school  bui'  Ingand 
the  manner  of  its  heating, 
but  can  we  not  do  some- 
thing toward  ventilating 
the  rooms?  How  about 
opening  the  windows 
while  the  pupils  are  at  the 
board,  when  they  are  out 
at  recess,  and  at  various 
other  times  during  the 
day?  A  little  attention 
on  the  part  of  the  teacher 
will  do  much  to  help  mat- 
ters in  this  direction- 

In  most  of  the  coun- 
try schools  window  ven- 
tilation is  usually  the 
kind  that  has  been  pro- 
vided. For  such  schools 
we  i^rcscnt  a  picture 
which  will  give  a  good 
plan  for  ventilating.  If  possible  the  window  should  be  run  to  the 
ceiling,  thus  allowing  foul  air  to  escape.  Or  a  transom  should  be 
built  between  the  window  and  the  ceiling  and  open  inward  from  the 
top. — Johnson's  Physical  Culture. 


1.  Escape  holes  in  movable  board  for  exit  of  foul  air. 
2    Board  to  break  the  force  of  draft  of  fresh  air. 
3.  Entrance  of  fiesh  air. 


I02 


SCHOOL  BUILDINGS  AND  GROUNDS  IN   NEBRASKA 


The  Country  Schoolhouse  and  its  Grounds: 
Agricultural  Training 


An  Aid  to 


BY  THE   HON.   JAMES   WILSON,   SECRETARY   OF  AGRICULTURE 

[Reprinted  from  The  Youth's  Companion,  March  14,  1901.] 

Sometimes  the  country  schoolhouse  has  extensive  and  well-kept 
grounds,  but  oftener  it  is  in  a  pasture,  a  cultivated  field  or  a  wood- 
lot.  In  these  instances,  although  the  playgrounds  are  usually  ade- 
quate, the  opportunities  for  object-lessons  in  natural  history  and  in 
various  profitable  but  incidental  lines  of  study  may  not  be  recognized. 

The  young  farmer  cannot  be  introduced  to  nature  too  soon,  and 
should  never  be  long  separated  from  her  object-lessons.  Suitable 
text-books  designed  to  lead  him  by  easy  stages  are  still  few  and  not 
well  arranged. 

We  live  in  an  age  of  specialized  work,  and  men  of  education  must 
usually,  if  they  would  become  impressive,  confine  their  inquiries  to 
one  channel.  The  farmer  deals  with  soils,  plants  and  animals,  with 
heat  and  cold — in  short,  with  nature  in  her  varied  forms  and  mani- 
festations. It  would  seem  wise,  in  the  interest  of  the  commonwealth 
and  of  himself,  that  he  should  be  made  thoroughly  acquainted  with 
soils  and  their  composition,  with  the  life  of  plants  and  animals,  and 
with  the  various  species  that  may  be  expected  to  flourish  in  particu- 
lar localities  and  climates. 

Yet  although  the  farm  keeps  the  balance  of  trade  in  the  nation's 


HIGH  SCHOOL  RECITATION  ROOM,  SCRIBNKR 


HIGH  SCHOOL  DKPARTMENT,  SCRHiMvR 


ixti;r-"\ii:i)Iate  department,  scribner 


,.-^4 


GRAMMAR  DEPARTMENT,  SCRIBNER 


SCHOOL  BUILDINGS  AND  GROUNDS  IN   NEBRASKA  I05 

favor,  furnishes  two-thirds  of  our  exports,  contributes  to  our  manu- 
facturing supremacy  by  providing  cheap  food  for  our  mechanics, 
comparatively  little  has  been  done  toward  educating  the  farmer  for 
his  work.  To  be  sure,  the  United  States  has  done  more  for  him  than 
any  other  country.  In  1862,  Congress  endowed  agricultural  colleges 
to  teach  the  sciences  relating  to  agriculture.  In  1867,  experiment 
stations  were  provided  for,  where  research  might  be  made  into  the 
operations  of  nature. 

But  considering  that  Americans  pay  more  money  for  public  educa- 
tion than  any  other  people  on  earth,  a  comparatively  small  proportion 
of  the  sum  is  devoted  to  stimulating  and  aiding  that  half  of  our  popu- 
lation who  cultivate  the  soil.  The  tendency  of  primary  education  has 
been  to  lead  the  country  youth  away  from  the  farm  instead  of  help- 
ing him  in  the  study  of  those  sciences  relating  to  production.  It 
would  be  politic  and  patriotic  to  incorporate  into  the  farm  youth's 
education  some  knowledge  that  shall  bear  more  directly  upon  his 
future  life  and  work. 

And  first,  the  grounds  around  the  schoolhouse  could  be  made  to 
speak  out  in  a  language  easily  intelligible  to  the  youth  whose  eyes 
have  been  familiar  with  nature  from  the  days  of  the  cradle. 

Flowers  should  abound  in  the  schoolhouse  groimds.  They  are 
among  the  best  of  educators,  for  they  develop  taste  and  a  love  for  the 
beautiful,  and  make  men  sensitive  to  the  attractive  and  lovely,  in 
town  or  country,  in  field  or  forest. 

Moreover,  the  flower  of  the  plant  has  an  economic  use,  concerning 
which  the  scholar  should  be  informed.  Nature  designed  it  to  invite 
the  wayfaring  insect,  and  we  can  employ  it  to  delight  the  child  in  its 
first  journey  away  from  home.  Little  people,  in  fair  weather,  should 
not  sit  long  at  a  time  on  benches  in  school.  The  lawn  should  be  ar- 
ranged for  their  pleasure,  and  in  any  such  arrangement  flowers  can- 
not be  omitted.  Although  their  language  will  not  be  immediately 
understood,  the  child  will,  by  gradual  acquaintance,  learn  to  know 
and  love  them.  The  country  boy  is  usually  bashful,  and  has  little  to 
say  to  new  acquaintances;  the  flowers  would  get  into  his  confidence 
sooner  than  most  strangers.  He  would  not  miss  home  and  ini>ther 
and  familiar  things  so  much. 

Instructive  lessons  about  annuals,  biennials  and  perennials  could 
be  taught  as  the  years  go  by.  The  names  of  the  plants  and  of  tjuii 
several  parts  would  be  memorized  nnich  more  readily  from  the  livini: 


I06  SCHOOL  BUILDINGS  AND  GROUNDS  IN  NEBRASKA 

subject  than  from  a  book.  At  recesses  and  during  the  noon  hour 
much  of  the  plant-lore  given  to  the  more  advanced  students  would  be 
dealt  out  by  them  to  the  beginners.  Young  people  do  not  hide  things 
under  a  bushel.  The  study  of  nature's  book  is  never  regarded  as  a 
task,  and  what  she  tells  us  in  her  own  peculiar  way  finds  almost  al- 
ways an  open  mind  and  a  retentive  memory. 

In  the  very  best  rural  schools  are  found  herbariums,  fishes  pre- 
served in  alcohol,  samples  of  rocks,  soils,  woods  and  minerals.  T^here 
are  few  districts  in  any  of  our  states  that  cannot  afford  thes^  collec- 
tions, and  there  is  no  good  reason  why  the  country  teacher  should  not 
use  the  out-of-door  object-lessons  that  are  so  abundant,  so  inviting, 
and  altogether  so  appropriate  for  the  best  development  of  the  young 
farmer. 

Heat  and  moisture  are  good  servants  of  the  cultivator  when  con- 
trolled, but  severe  masters  where,  through  ignorance,  they  are  per- 
mitted to  have  their  own  way.  Their  potent  influence  on  production 
is  generally  overlooked  in  the  education  of  the  farmer.  The  subject 
is  certainly  neglected  entirely  in  most  of  our  country  schools,  im- 
portant though  it  may  be  to  the  future  welfare  of  the  child. 

Advanced  research  to  discover  the  effects  of  heat  and  moisture  on 
production  is  receiving  some  attention  at  our  agricultural  colleges, 
and  valuable  results  are  available  to  the  students  who  reach  the 
colleges ;  but  these  are  comparatively  few  in  number.  The  state  col- 
lege endowed  by  Congress  offers  to  the  farmer  a  kind  of  intermediate 
stage  of  education,  but  he  is  given  no  practical  beginning  in  the  com- 
mon school,  and  there  is  no  university  in  which,  after  graduating 
from  college,  he  might  carry  on  specialization. 

Many  of  us  have  distinct  recollections  of  disagreeable  schoolhouses 
and  grounds.  We  ought  to  arrange  matters  so  that  different  impres- 
sions will  be  made  on  the  little  people  who  now  venture  from  home 
and  go  to  school.  We  should  associate  as  many  attractive  things 
around  the  schoolhouse  as  can  be  brought  together,  just  as  we  make 
the  parlor  the  mo^t  beautiful  room  at  home  in  order  that  our  friends 
may  be  pleased  while  they  visit  us. 

Flowers  and  plants  are  most  pleasing  additions  to  the  house  as 
well  as  to  the  lawn.  Students  should  be  taught  the  daily  care  neces- 
sary to  have  healthy  and  beautiful  flowering  plants,  the  uses  of  the 
spray,  and  the  remedies  for  infesting  or  destructive  insects. 

The  children  of  a  schoolroom  will  watch  with  interest  the  unfold- 


''^ 


"Th? 


SCHOOL  BUILDINGS  AND  GROUNDS  IN  NEBRASKA  lOQ 

ing  of  new  leaves,  the  first  appearance  of  a  bud,  and  finally  the 
bursting  petals  of  a  beautiful  blossom.  Without  much  extra  labor 
the  paths  that  should  be  artistically  laid  out  on  each  schoolhouse 
lawn  can  be  edged  with  neat,  blooming  border  plants.  The  pupils 
would  always  delight  in  caring  for  and  protecting  them. 

Flower-beds  on  the  lawn  are  pretty  if  properly  made.  A  few  hya- 
cinth bulbs  planted  in  the  fall  make  almost  as  early  reminders  of 
spring  as  the  hepatica  or  the  ambitious  crocus  that  laughs  at  a  snow- 
bank. The  hyacinth  bulb  is  interesting  from  the  moment  it  peeps 
through  the  ground,  and  its  flowers  are  satisfactory,  too,  because 
they  last  longer  than  those  of  most  other  early  bloomers. 

The  gathering  of  seeds  from  all  trees,  shrubs  and  plants  should  be 
encouraged.  If  all  the  seeds  be  saved,  pupils  whose  parents  have  not 
encouraged  flower  culture  may  be  induced  to  make  little  flower-gar- 
dens at  home,  and  incidentally  to  take  pride  in  the  appearance  of 
the  yard. 

Small  trees  and  shrubs  look  well  set  out  as  a  hedge,  besides  fur- 
nishing a  shade  on  one  side  of  the  lawn.  Each  girl  might  have  a 
flowering  shrub  planted  for  her,  the  variety  to  be  of  her  own  selec- 
tion, and  it  should  then  become  her  special  care. 

Several  things  might  be  done  to  make  the  schoolhouse  yard  inter- 
esting to  the  students.  Upon  the  advent  of  each  new  pupil  a  tree, 
native  to  the  latitude,  might  be  planted.  This  would  give  a  certain 
dignity  to  each  new  pupil. 

Much  sentiment  has  attached  to  trees  in  all  lands  and  in  all  ages. 
Acorns  from  the  oaks  of  Mount  Vernon  were  presented  to  the  Tsar 
of  Russia  by  a  brother  of  the  late  Senator  Sumner.  They  were 
planted,  by  order  of  the  emperor,  in  the  imperial  preserves  of  St. 
Petersbui-g,  and  there  grew  into  fine  trees,  the  acorns  from  which 
were,  in  their  turn,  brought  back  to  the  United  States  by  Mr.  Hitch- 
cock, then  ambassador  to  Russia,  and  now  Secretary  of  the  Interior, 
These  acorns  will  be  planted  at  Mount  Vernon,  near  their  "grand- 
parents." 

After  a  recent  visit  to  England,  Senator  Hoar  of  Massachusetts 
brought  back  young  British  oaks  from  the  royal  forest  of  Dean  and 
chestnuts  from  the  estates  of  the  Earl  of  Ducie.  These  will  be 
studied  by  our  foresters  as  they  grow  in  the  mall  at  Washington. 
Within  the  enclosure  of  the  Botanical  Gardens  at  Washington  many 
trees,  planted  by  prominent  American  statesmen,  have  grown  to  be 
objects  of  great  interest  and  beauty. 


no  SCHOOL  BUILDINGS  AND  GROUNDS  IN   NEP.RASKA 

Charles  Sumner  planted  a  European  hornbeam  ;  Thaddeus  Stevens 
an  oriental  plane-tree ;  Senator  Beck  an  American  elm ;  President 
Hayes  a  rare  variety  of  oak ;  Senator  Hoar  a  cedar  of  Lebanon.  A 
Scotch  plane-tree  planted  by  Senator  Frye  is  pointed  out  to  all  vis- 
itors. There  are  many  others,  but  enough  have  been  mentioned  to 
show  the  interest  that  attaches  to  a  tree  carrying  the  name  of  the 
person  by  whom  it  was  planted. 

Young  people  attending  the  country  school  would  soon  learn  the 
names  of  all  the  trees  indigenous  to  the  neighborhood.  If  the  pupils 
would  gather  the  seeds  of  the  trees  at  different  seasons  when  they 
are  ripe,  the  teacher  would  have  an  object-lesson  to  assist  her  in  con- 
ducting nature  studies.  Methods  of  preserving  these  seeds  through 
the  winter  and  the  habits  of  growth  of  the  different  varieties  would 
be  studied  with  intense  interest  and  never  forgotten.  As  the  pupils 
visited  new  neighborhoods  and  new  countries,  their  early  forestry 
lessons  would  be  valuable  in  enabling  them  to  add  to  their  knowledge 
of  sylviculture. 

The  great  life-work  of  Senator  Morrill  of  Vermont,  assisted  by 
other  far-seeing  American  statesmen,  was  the  endowment  of  insti- 
tutions in  each  state  in  the  Union,  where  the  sons  and  daughters  of 
American  farmers  could  study  the  sciences  that  relate  to  agriculture 
and  domestic  economy.  A  great  question,  however,  is  the  proper 
preparation  of  young  country  people  for  entering  these  agricultural 
colleges.  The  preparation  must  be  given  by  the  country  school 
teacher,  and  the  query  presents  itself,  "How  shall  the  teacher  be 
fitted  for  this  work?" 

In  most  of  our  states  we  have  normal  schools  for  teachers,  yet 
some  of  our  state  agricultural  colleges  have  not  succeeded  simply 
because  the  instructors  had  been  educated  in  institutions  that  gave 
them  too  little  of  the  sciences  relating  to  agriculture. 

Progress  is  being  made;  the  student  of  soils,  plants,  and  ani- 
mals is  finding  his  place  in  the  classroom ;  but  the  giving  of  direction 
and  bent  toward  the  agricultural  college  must  begin  with  the  farm- 
ers' children  in  the  country  schoolhouse,  and  to  this  end  we  should 
have  object-lessons  on  the  schoolhouse  grounds. 

The  dry  ranges  of  the  great  West  are  being  rapidly  destroyed  by 
injudicious  grazing.  The  beautiful  valleys  of  the  mountain  states 
are  being  rendered  barren  by  the  unwise  application  of  water.  The 
great  wheat-fialds  from  the  Missouri  river  to  the  Pacific  ocean  are 


SCHOOL  BUILDINGS  AND  GROUNDS  IN  NEBRASKA  113 

losing-  their  fertility,  and  the  grains  are  losing  their  nitrogenous  con- 
tent by  continual  robbery  of  the  soil.  Summer  fallowing  and  the 
sowing  of  one  crop  in  two  years  are  becoming  universal. 

The  young  farmer  attending  the  district  school  could  readily  be 
taught  what  a  plant  gets  from  the  soil  and  what  it  gets  from  the  air. 
The  several  grasses  could  be  planted,  and  their  office  in  filling  the 
soil  with  humus,  enabling  the  soil  to  retain  moisture,  could  be  ex- 
plained. The  legumes — peas,  beans,  clover  and  alfalfa — could  be 
grown  in  the  schoolhouse  yard,  and  during  recess  or  at  the  noon 
hour  the  teacher  could  interest  the  students  by  digging  up  a  young 
pea  or  clover  root  and  showing  the  nodules,  whose  office  it  is  to  bring 
the  free  nitrogen  from  the  atmosphere  and  fix  it  in  the  soil. 

The  pupils  would  see  that  some  relation  exists  between  the  size 
of  the  nodule  and  the  fruit  of  the  legume.  As  a  plant  grows  older 
and  blossoms  and  seeds  begin  to  form,  the  matter  found  in  the 
nodules  rises  in  the  plant  to  help  make  seeds,  leaving  the  nodules 
like  old  egg-shells  from  which  the  birds  have  been  hatched. 

The  microscope  could  be  brought  into  use  in  the  study  of  the  soil, 
and  microscopic  plants  could  be  studied,  special  attention  being  paid 
to  those  that  change  fertilizer  into  plant-food. 

Entomological  studies  might  very  well  be  carried  on  around  the 
country  schoolhouse.  The  wild  bee  goes  from  flower  to  flower  of 
the  clover  plant  seeking  pollen  with  which  to  build  her  cells  or  honey 
to  store  in  them.  She  performs  a  very  useful  labor  for  the  farmer 
by  carrying  pollen  from  flower  to  flower. 

The  people  around  Charleston  who  raise  early  cucumbers  in  green- 
houses for  the  early  markets  find  it  necessary  to  use  the  brush  in  dis- 
tributing pollen,  but  they  take  care  to  have  a  swarm  of  bees  to  do  the 
work  as  soon  as  the  weather  is  warm  enough. 

Tens  of  thousands  of  Smyrna  fig-trees  that  should  produce  the 
most  valuable  fig  of  commerce,  brought  from  the  Turkish  empire 
and  planted  on  the  Pacific  coast,  have  never  ripened  fruit  except 
when  artificial  pollination  was  practised.  An  entomologist,  visiting 
the  trees,  told  the  owners  that  what  was  needed  was  a  little  wasp 
that  lives  on  a  wild  fig  in  the  neighborhood  of  Smyrna.  After  re- 
peated efforts,  that  little  fly  has  been  brought  from  its  Asiatic  home, 
and  is  now  domiciled  in  the  fig  orchards,  ready  to  help  the  people  of 
that  neighborhood  to  begin  a  new  industry. 

The  attention  of  the  young  farmer  at  the  country  schoolhouse 


114  SCHOOL  BUILDINGS  AND  GROUNDS  IN  NEBRASKA 

could  be  g^railually  drawn,  by  easy  staples,  from  one  insect  to  an- 
other. A  little  help  by  the  teacher  would  arouse  in  the  student 
intelligent  interest  in  our  insect  friends  and  enemies. 

Children  should  be  cncourac^ed  to  brings  specimens  to  school,  col- 
lections could  be  made,  and  the  student's  name  associated  with  every 
new  discovery.  In  all  these  ways  the  student  can  be  brought  to  an 
understanding  of  nature,  living  and  inanimate,  to  a  knowledge  that 
will  develop  head  and  hand  and  heart. 


I 


-^- 


SCHOOL  BUILDINGS  AND  GROUNDS  IN  NEBRASKA 


117 


DIAGRAM  No.  1 

This  illustrates  the  school  grounds  after  some  years'  growth,  the  grounds 
being  originally  laid  out  after  the  plan  shown  in  Diagram  No.  2. 


Ornamentation  of  the  School  Grounds 


BY  WILLIAM  H.  BARNES,  SECRETARY  OF  HORTICULTURE^  TOPEKA,  KAN. 


Seeing  in  The  Youth's  Companion  your  article  on  this  subject,  I 
beg  to  offer  the  following : 

I  have  long  been  an  advocate  of  the  ornamentation  of  our  district 
school  grounds,  and  have  frequently  addressed  Kansas  audiences 
upon  the  subject. 

I  long  ago  discovered  that  the  real  reason  why  they  are  not  made 
attractive  is  their  limited  area.  Our  people  in  the  West,  notwith- 
standing the  low  value  of  land,  brought  with  them  the  idea  that  a 
quarter-acre  or  half-acre  was  enough  land  to  waste  ( ?)  around  a 
schoolhouse.  Outdoor  exercise  (recess)  is  an  essential  part  of  an 
education,  and  a  herd  of  scholars  playing  ball,  duck-on-a-rock,  quoits, 
leap-frog,  skipping  ropes,  rolling  hoops  or  tag  in  the  public  road 
should  be  prohibited.  If  the  school  director  should  happen,  along 
with  his  team,  and  the  team  shies  at  the  children  or  their  belongings, 
he  would  grumble  and  complain  as  do  others. 

If  we  ornament  the  grounds  with  "keep  off  the  grass"  signs, 
where  will  they  play?  In  the  West,  where  land  is  cheap,  we  should 
have  taken  five  acres  for  grounds  about  each  schoolhouse.    The  dif- 


ii8 


SCIIOOI.   lU'ILDINGS  AND  GROUNDS   IN    NliBRASKA 


trict  should  put  up  swings  of  various  kinds,  furnish  ball  clubs,  skip- 
ping ropes,  quoits  and  croquet  sets  just  as  freely  as  globes,  maps  and 
models  and  other  indoor  paraphernalia,  and  the  teachers  should  be 
interested  in  the  plays. 

Then,  two  acres  could  be  parked  and  beautified,  with  the  house  or 
iwzi'cr  of  beauty  in  the  midst  of  a  lovely  setting. 

The  scholars  should  be  organized  into  an  improvement  club.  This 
club  should  be  subdivided  into  working  committees ;  these  commit- 
tees should  each  control  and  care  for  a  certain  line  of  work  and 
improvement. 

There  is  Johnny  Doe.  He  lives  in  the  timber,  knows  every  tree 
l)y  sight.  Put  him  at  the  head  of  the  shade-tree  committee.  With  a 
little  assistance  and  encouragement  he  and  his  committee  will  not 
only  dig,  bring  and  plant  the  trees,  but  will  care  for  them  lovingly 
as  long  as  they  attend  that  school,  and  woe  betide  the  unrul  ipy  "  k" 
that  dare  cut  a  notch  in,  or  a  switch  from,  one  of  them. 

Another    committee     looks 


after  the  w-alks ;  another  after 
the  fences,  hitching-posts  and 
buildings ;  another  after  the 
hardy  climbing  vines  to  cover 
the  outhouses  and  clamber 
over  the  schoolhouse  itself ; 
another  to  look  after  the  beds 
of  annuals  or  perennials  from 
which  the  teacher's  desk  re- 
ceives a  daily  bouquet. 

Columns  might  be  written 
to  show  the  lasting  effect  such 
an  arrangement  would  have 
upon  the  character  of  each 
pupil,  and  the  wholesome  effect 
it  would  have  on  the  commun- 
ity or  district.  There  are  yet 
hundreds  of  localities  where  a 
few  acres  could  readily  be 
added  to  the  present  school  grounds,  two  acres  for  adornment,  three 
acres  for  playground,  all  laid  out  with  judgment  and  cared  for  by  the 
pupils,  the  necessary  expenses  being  paid  by  the  district. 


SKETCH      OF    PLANTINO 

DIAGRAM  No.  2 


HARVARD  IIIOIT  SCHOOL 


BEATRICE  HIGH  SCHOOL 


SCHOOL  DUILDIXGS  AND  GROUNDS  IN  NEBRASKA  121 

Hints  on  Rural  School  Grounds 

BY   PROF.    L.    H.    BAILEY,    CORNELL    UNIVERSITY 

One's  training  for  the  work  of  life  is  begun  in  the  home  and 
fostered  in  the  school.  This  training  is  the  result  of  a  direct  and 
conscious  effort  on  the  part  of  the  parent  and  teacher,  combined 
with  the  indirect  result  of  the  surroundings  in  which  the  child  is 
placed.  The  surroundings  are  more  potent  than  we  think,  and  they 
are  usually  neglected.  It  is  probable  that  the  antipathy  to  farm  life 
is  often  formed  before  the  child  is  able  to  reason  on  the  subject.  An 
attractive  playground  will  do  more  than  a  profitable  wheat  crop  to 
keep  the  child  on  the  farm. 

The  Facts. — Bare,  harsh,  cheerless,  immodest — these  are  the 
facts  about  the  average  rural  school  ground. 

Children  cannot  be  forced'  to  like  the  school.  They  like  it  only 
when  it  is  worth  liking.  And  when  they  like  it,  they  learn.  The 
fanciest  school  apparatus  will  not  atone  for  a  charmless  school 
ground. 

The  following  sentences  are  extracted  from  the  "Report  of  the 
Committee  of  Twelve  on  Rural  Schools"  of  the  National  Educa- 
tional Association  (1897)  : 

"The  rural  schoolhouse,  generally  speaking,  in  its  character  and 
surroundings  is  depressing  and  degrading.  There  is  nothing  about 
it  calculated  to  cultivate  a  taste  for  the  beautiful  in  art  or  nature." 

"If  children  are  daily  surrounded  by  those  influences  that  elevate 
them,  that  make  them  clean  r  .1  well-ordered,  that  make  them  love 
flowers  and  pictures  and  proper  decorations,  they  at  last  reach  that 
degree  of  culture  where  nothing  else  will  please  them.  When  they 
grow  up  and  have  homes  of  their  own,  they  must  have  them  clean, 
neat,  bright  with  pictures,  and  fringed  with  shade-trees  and  flowers, 
for  they  have  been  brought  up  to  be  ha])i\v  in  no  other  environ- 
ment." 

"The  rural  schoolhouse  should  be  built  in  accordance  with  the 
laws  of  sanitation  and  modern  civilization." 


122  SCHOOL  BUILDINGS  AND  GROUNDS  IN  NEBRASKA 

HOW  TO  BEGIN  A  REFORM 

We  will  assume  that  there  is  one  person  in  each  rural  school  dis- 
trict who  desires  to  renovate  and  improve  the  school  premises. 
There  may  be  two.  If  this  person  is  the  school  commissioner  or 
the  teacher,  so  much  the  better. 

Let  this  person  call  a  meeting  of  the  patrons  of  the  schoolhouse. 
Lay  before  the  people  the  necessity  of  improving  the  premises.  The 
cooperation  of  the  most  influential  men  in  the  district  should  be  se- 
cured before  the  meeting  is  called. 

Propose  a  "bee"  for  improving  the  school  grounds.  John  Smith 
will  agree  to  repair  the  fence  (or  take  it  away,  if  it  is  not  needed). 
Jones  will  plow  and  harrow  the  ground,  if  plowing  is  necessary. 
Brown  will  sow  the  grass  seed.  Black  and  Green  and  White  will 
go  about  the  neighborhood  with  their  teams  for  trees  and  bushes. 
Some  of  these  may  be  got  in  the  edges  of  the  woods,  but  many  of 
the  bushes  can  be  picked  up  in  front  yards.  Others  will  donate  their 
labor  toward  grading,  planting  and  cleaning  up  the  place.  The 
whole  thing  can  be  done  in  one  day.  Perhaps  Arbor  Day  can  be 
chosen. 

THE  PLAN  OF  THE  PLACE 

This  is  the  most  important  part  of  the  entire  undertaking — the 
right  kind  of  a  plan  for  the  improvement  of  the  grounds.  The  per- 
son who  calls  the  meeting  should  have  a  definite  plan  in  mind,  and 
this  plan  may  be  discussed  and  adopted. 

Begin  with  the  Fundamentals,  not  with  the  Details. — 
If  an  artist  is  to  make  a  portrait,  he  first  draws  a  few  bold  strokes, 
representing  the  general  outline.  He  "blocks  out"  the  picture.  With 
the  general  plan  well  in  mind,  he  gradually  works  in  the  incidentals 
and  the  details — the  nose,  eyes,  beard. 

Most  persons  reverse  this  natural  order  when  they  plant  their 
grounds.  They  first  ask  about  the  kinds  of  roses,  the  soil  for  snow- 
balls, how  far  apart  hollyhocks  shall  be  planted.  It  is  as  if  the  artist 
first  asked  about  the  color  of  the  eyes  and  the  fashion  of  the  neck- 
tie ;  or  as  if  the  architect  first  chose  the  color  of  paint  and  then 
planned  his  building.  The  result  of  this  type  of  planting  is  that 
there  is  no  plan,  and  the  yard  means  nothing  when  it  is  done.  Be- 
gin with  the  plan,  not  with  the  plants. 


iPlf ir;wil»i'?^>»Vg>--'r^  - 


SCHOOL  BUILDINGS  AND  GROUNDS  IN   NEBRASKA 


125 


The  Place  Should  Mean  Something. — The  home  ground 
should  be  homelike,  retired  and  cozy.  The  school  ground  should  be 
set  off  from  the  bare  fields,  and  should  be  open  enough  to  allow  of 
playgrounds.  It  should  be  hollow — well-planted  on  the  sides,  open 
in  the  interior.  The  side  next  the  highway  should  contain  little 
planting.  The  place  should  be  a  picture,  not  a  mere  collection  of 
trees  and  bushes.    Fig.  25  shows  what  I  mean. 


1>  ■  ^:=C^^- 


■^ 


~-^'       S 


^  ^-K^k 


'r^ 


f  „  .t.pOttT*' 


Fig.  25.— a  picture,  of  which  a  schoolhouse  is  the  central  figure 


As  seen  in  the  picture  (Fig.  25),  this  style  of  planting  seems  to 
be  too  elaborate  and  expensive  for  any  ordinary  place.  But  if  the 
reader  will  bear  with  me,  he  shall  learn  otherwise. 

Keep  the  Center  of  the  Place  Open. — Do  not  scatter  the  trees 
over  the  place.  They  will  be  in  the  way.  The  boys  will  break  them 
down.  Moreover,  they  do  not  look  well  when  scattered  over  the 
whole  area.  When  an  artist  makes  a  picture  with  many  people  in 
it,, he  does  not  place  the  persons  one  by  one  all  over  his  canvas;  he 
masses  them.  Thereby  he  secures  a  stronger  effect.  He  focuses  at- 
tention, rather  than  distributes  it. 

The  diagrams  (Figs.  26,  27)  make  this  conception  plain.  The 
same  trees  and  shrubs  can  be  used  to  make  either  a  nursery  or  a 
picture.    But  it  is  more  difficult  to  make  the  nursery,  and  to  keep 


126 


SCHOOL  BUILDINGS  AND  GROUNDS  IN   NEBRASKA 


l^ 


^ 


■J 


^ 


Fig   26 —Common  or  nursery  tj'pe  of  planting 


it  in  order,  because  the  trees  grow  one  at  a  place  in  the  sod,  and  they 

are  exposed  to  acci- 
1         ^  i  ^    dents. 

Go  to  the  black- 
board. With  four 
lines  represent  the 
borders  of  the 
school  grounds,  as 
in  Fig.  28.  Indicate 
the  schoolhouse  and 
the  outbuildings. 

Existing     trees 
may   be   located   by 
small  circles.     Now 
you  have  the   facts, 
or  the  fixed  points. 
Xow  put  in  the  walks.     The  first  fixed  point  is  the  front  door. 
The  other  fixed  point  is  the  place  or  places  at  which  the  children 
enter  the  grounds.   Join  these  points  by  the  most  direct  and  simplest 
curves  possible.    That  is  all  there  is  of  it.    In  many,  or  perhaps  most 
places,  the  house  is  so  near  the  highway  that  only  a  straight  walk  is 
possible  or  advisable. 
Next    comes    the 
planting.     Let  it  be 
irregular    and    nat- 
ural,   and    represent 
it  by  a  wavy  line,  as 
in  Fig.  28.     First  of 
all,  cover  up  the  out- 
houses.   Then  plant 
heavily  on  the  side, 
or  in  the  direction  of 
the  prevailing  wind. 
Leave    openings    in 
vour  plan  wherever 

there    are    views    to  Fig.  27. -The  proper  or  pictorialtype  of  planting 

be  had  of  fine  old  trees,  attractive  farm  homes,  a  brook,  or  a  beauti- 
ful hill  or  field.  Throw  a  handful  of  shrubs  into  the  corners  by 
the  steps  and  about  the  bare  comers  of  the  building. 


DISTRICT  SCHOOL  No.  9,  DODGE  COUNTY 


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PILGER  PUBLIC  .SCHOOL 


ATHENS  SCHOOL,  AUBURN 
Six  Rooms 


ANTIOCH  SCHOOL,  AUBURN 
Eight  Rooms 


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SCHOOL  BUILDINGS  AND  GROUNDS  IN  NEBRASKA  I5I 

Rural  School  Conditions  in  Nebraska 

A  general  idea  of  the  kind  of  school  buildings  in  this  state  may 
be  gathered  from  the  illustrations  and  descriptions  in  this  publica- 
tion, from  Statistical  Table  No.  II,  showing  the  number  of  frame, 
brick,  stone,  log  and  sod  schoolhouses  in  each  county  in  the  state 
during  the  school  year  1900-1901,  and  Table  No.  I,  showing  the 
changes  in  the  number  of  schoolhouses  of  the  different  materials 
from  the  year  1869  to  1901.  Space  forbids  extended  description  of 
conditions  in  each  of  the  ninety  counties  in  the  state,  but  we  here- 
with submit  information  gathered  by  letter  and  by  personal  visitation 
in  a  number  of  representative  counties.  The  conditions  in  different 
parts  of  the  state  are  so  vastly  different  that  personal  inspection 
only  would  convince  one  of  it  or  impress  one  with  the  difference  in 
problems  presented  to  any  one  concerned  or  interested  in  school 
conditions  in  Nebraska  and  their  improvement. 

BANNER  COUNTY 

Here  is  a  county  in  the  extreme  western  portion  of  the  state  on 
the  Wyoming  line,  without  a  high  school  or  a  railroad  in  it.  At  the 
county  seat  two  teachers  are  employed,  a  term  of  eight  months  of 
school  is  held  during  the  year,  and  the  principal  is  paid  $30  per 
month.  One-half  the  number  of  schoolhouses  in  the  county  are  fur- 
nished with  patent  desks  and  slate  blackboards.  The  other  half 
have  home-made  desks  and  wooden  blackboards.  There  are  five 
districts  in  the  county  having  practically  no  outhouses  on  the  school 
grounds. 

BLAINE  COUNTY 

Blaine  county  is  situated  in  the  central  portion  of  the  state.  In 
this  county  there  are  nine  rural  schoolhouses.  Two  of  these  are 
frame  and  the  rest  are  built  of  sod.  In  two  there  are  patent  desks, 
in  two  others  there  are  both  home-made  and  patent  desks,  and  in  five 
schoolhouses  there  are  home-made  desks  only.  Three  buildings  are 
furnished  with  slate  blackboard,  while  the  others  have  painted 
boards.  One  district  has  two  separate  outhouses,  three  have  two 
under  the  same  roof,  and  the  rest  have  one  or  practically  none.  Two 
of  the  schools  in  Blaine  county  graduated  pupils  from  the  eighth 
grade  last  year,  which  is  the  highest  grade  in  any  school  in   the 


15^  SCnOOL  BUILDINGS  AND  GROUNDS  IN   NEBRASKA 

county,  although  in  some  schools  higher  branches  are  being  taught. 
Teachers  are  being  paid  from  $25  to  $40  per  month.  The  county 
superintendent  writes  that  quite  an  interest  is  being  manifested  by 
both  patrons  and  pupils  and  that  in  the  near  future  Blaine  county 
will  rank  among  the  first  in  education. 

BOX  BUTTE  COUNTY 

This  county  is  in  the  extreme  northwestern  part  of  the  state. 
There  are  about  sixty  schoolhouses  in  the  county,  and  nearly  one-half 
the  children  in  the  county  are  in  the  city  of  Alliance.  There  are 
sixty-five  square  miles  unorganized  into  school  districts  with  per- 
haps a  score  or  two  of  children  living  in  this  unorganized  territory. 
About  one-half  the  buildings  have  patent  desks  and  the  others  home- 
made ones.  Thirteen  rooms  have  slate  blackboards,  five  have  hylo- 
plate,  five  have  cloth,  four  have  plaster  and  twenty-nine  have  wooden 
blackboards.  Nearly  all  schools  are  supplied  with  maps  and  charts, 
and  all  but  two  furnish  text-books  to  pupils. 

CASS    COUNTY 

Cass  county  is  situated  in  the  eastern  portion  of  the  state  on  the 
Missouri  river.  There  are  an  even  hundred  school  districts  in  this 
county.  Five  of  these  are  organized  as  high  school  districts,  viz., 
Plattsmouth,  Weeping  Water,  Louisville,  Greenwood  and  Elm- 
wood.  Union,  Nehawka,  Avoca,  Eagle,  Alvo,  Murdock,  South 
Bend  and  Murray  are  graded  village  schools  employing  two  or 
three  teachers.  All  the  above  are  fairly  well  equipped  with  furni- 
ture, apparatus,  etc.  All  except  Nehawka  and  Murray  are  under  the 
free  text-book  system.  All  the  rural  schools  of  the  county  have 
patent  desks,  though  a  considerable  number  have  the  senseless,  noisy, 
out-of-repair  folding  desks.  A  large  number  of  the  schools  have 
seats  too  large  for  the  smaller  pupils,  and  many  of  the  desks  are  too 
far  apart.  This  is  a  matter  of  great  importance.  One  district  has  a 
paper  blackboard,  three  have  both  wood  and  plaster,  two  have  cloth, 
six  hyloplate,  thirteen  wood,  twenty-eight  plaster  and  forty-seven 
have  slate.  Nearly  all  the  blackboards  are  in  good  condition.  Spe- 
cial attention  has  been  paid  to  such  matters.  Ninety-five  have  two 
separate  outhouses,  three  are  under  one  roof  and  two  have  but  one 
outhouse.  Less  than  two  years  ago  there  were  more  than  a  dozen 
with  but  one  outhouse. 


SCHOOL  BUILDINGS  AND  GROUNDS  IN  NEBRASKA  I55 

DEUEL  COUNTY 

Here  is  another  county  in  the  western  portion  of  the  state,  large 
in  area,  largely  unorganized,  with  the  Union  Pacific  railroad  pass- 
ing through  the  extreme  southern  portion  and  the  Burlington  just 
beyond  the  northern  boundary.  There  are  about  fifty  schools  in  the 
county,  thirty  of  which  have  home-made  desks.  About  twenty-five 
have  slate  blackboards  and  the  others  are  supplied  with  wooden 
blackboards.  Every  schoolhouse  in  the  county  has  two  separate 
outhouses. 

HITCHCOCK   COUNTY 

This  county  is  in  the  southwestern  portion  of  the  state.  Three- 
fourths  of  the  schoolhouses  are  provided  with  patent  desks.  The 
others  have  home-made  desks  or  some  home-made  and  some  patent 
ones.  About  one-fourth  of  them  have  slate  blackboards,  but  the 
majority  have  plaster  boards.  One-half  the  districts  have  two  sep- 
arate outhouses,  the  others  having  but  one  each.  The  latter  are 
mostly  small  schools  of  a  few  pupils.  Some  of  their  school  boards 
thought  it  wise  to  procure  a  bookcase  instead  of  erecting  an  addi- 
tional outhouse. 

LINCOLN  COUNTY 

This  is  a  large  county  in  the  west-central  portion  of  the  state, 
forty-eight  by  fifty-four  miles  in  extent.  It  is  crossed  from  west  to 
east  by  the  Platte  river  and  the  Union  Pacific  railroad.  There  are 
more  than  twenty  sod  schoolhouses  in  this  county,  but  the  school- 
houses  generally  are  quite  well  furnished.  Sixty-two  school  grounds 
are  fenced,  mostly  with  barb  wire,  while  sixty-four  others  are  not 
fenced.  There  are  one  hundred  twenty-four  buildings  with  patent 
desks  and  only  two  with  home-made  ones.  Slate  blackboards  are 
found  in  seventy-seven  houses,  plaster  boards  in  seventeen  houses, 
wood  in  thirteen,  hyloplate  in  eleven  and  cloth  blackboards  in  eight 
school  buildings.  Seventy-five  districts  have  a  coal  house,  forty-one 
have  a  coal  box.  Eighty-four  districts  have  two  separate  outhouses, 
twenty-four  have  two  under  one  roof,  sixteen  have  but  one  such 
building,  and  two  have  none. 


1S6  SCHOOL  BUILDINGS  AND  GROUNDS  IN  NEBRASKA 

RICHARDSON  COUNTY 

This  county  is  in  the  southeastern  corner  of  the  state,  bordering 
on  Kansas  and  Missouri.  During  the  last  term  five  new  school- 
houses  were  erected,  but  as  the  county  is  an  old  one  and  was  early 
settled  there  are  many  more  that  should  be  replaced  soon.  There 
are  over  one  hundred  schools  in  the  county  and  all  are  provided 
with  patent  desks.  Forty  have  slate  blackboards,  twenty  have  plaster, 
forty-four  have  wooden,  and  a  few  have  some  cloth  or  paper  or  hylo- 
plate.  Nearly  all  schools  are  fairly  well  equipped,  but  a  few  of  the 
poorest  districts  are  very  inadequately  provided  with  anything. 

SARPY  COUNTY 

This  is  a  county  in  the  east-central  portion  of  the  state,  south  of 
Douglas  of  which  Omaha  is  the  county  seat.  All  schools  are  pro- 
vided with  patent  desks,  a  few  of  which  are  in  bad  repair,  and  many 
of  these  are  being  replaced  with  single  desks.  About  one-half  the 
schools  have  slate  blackboard.  The  others  have  plaster  or  painted 
boards.  All  have  blackboards  of  some  kind.  This  county  has  the 
two  extremes  in  design  of  frame  schoolhouses.  The  older  buildings 
are  of  the  familiar  old  box-car  style,  while  the  new  ones  are  being 
built  on  modern  plans. 

SAUNDERS  COUNTY 

Saunders  county  is  situated  in  the  east-central  portion  of  the 
state.  Nearly  all  the  schools  in  this  county  are  provided  with  patent 
desks.  There  are  a  few  home-made  ones  in  two  or  three  schools. 
Four-fifths  of  the  schools  have  some  slate  blackboard ;  many  of  them 
have  nothing  else.  There  are  eight  or  ten  with  wooden  boards,  a 
few  with  plaster  boards,  and  a  few  other  schools  with  other  kinds  of 
boards,  but  all  the  schools  in  the  county  are  provided  with  black- 
boards, and  the  slate  boards  are  rapidly  displacing  all  other  kinds. 
There  is  not  a  district  in  the  county  without  two  outhouses,  and 
only  a  few  that  have  the  two  under  one  roof. 


i 


SCHOOL  BUILDINGS  AND  GROUNDS  IN  NEBRASKA 


129 


Fig.  28  —The  blackboard  plan 


Hoael 


You  now  have  a  plan  to  work  to. 
It  has  been  the  work  of  five  minutes 
at  the  blackboard. 

Sometimes  the  problem  is  not  so 
simple  as  all  this.  There  may  be 
three  entrances  to  the  grounds  and  a 
highway  on  two  sides.  Fig.  29  is  a 
plan  made  for  such  a  place  in  west- 
ern New  York.  It  was  thought  to  be 
necessary  to  separate  the  play- 
grounds of  the  boys  and  girls.  This 
was  done  by  a  wide  hedge-row  of  bushes  running  back  from  the 
ichoolhouse. 

Perhaps  some  persons 
object  to  so  much  shrub- 
bery. They  look  upon  it 
as  mere  brush.  Very  well, 
then  use  trees  alone.  But 
do  not  scatter  them  hit 
and  miss  over  the  place. 
Give  room  for  the  chil- 
dren to  play ;  and  make 
the  place  a  picture  at  the 
same  time.  Three  or  four 
trees  may  l)e  planted  near 
the  building  to  shade  it, 
but  the  heaviest  planting 
should  be  on  the  sides. 

Making  Tin-:  Son. — In 
many  cases  the  school 
yard  is  already  level  or  well  graded  and  has  a  good  sod,  and  it  is 
not  necessary  to  plow  it  and  re-seed  it.  It  should  be  said  that  the 
sod  on  old  lawns  can  be  renewed  without  plowing  it  up.  In  the 
bare  or  thin  places,  scratch  up  the  ground  with  an  iron-toothed 
rake,  apply  a  little  fertilizer,  and  sow  more  seed.  Weedy  lawns  arc 
those  in  which  the  sod  is  poor.  It  may  be  necessary  to  pull  out  the 
weeds ;  but  after  they  arc  out,  the  land  should  be  quickly  covered 
witb  sod,  or  they  will  come  in  again.  Annual  weeds,  as  pigweed, 
ragweed,  can  usually  be  crowded  out  by  merely  securing  a  heavier 


Fig.  29. — Suggestion.s  for  the  planting  of  a  school-yard 
upon  four  corners.     From  "  Lessons  with  Plants." 


130  SCHOOL  BUILDINGS  AND  GROUNDS  IN   NEBRASKA 

sod.  A  little  clover  seed  will  often  be  a  good  addition,  for  it  sup- 
plies nitrogen,  and  has  an  excellent  mechanical  effect  on  the  soil. 

The  ideal  time  to  prepare  the  land  is  in  the  fall,  before  the  heavy 
rains  come.  Then  sow  in  the  fall,  and  again  in  early  spring  on  a  late 
snow.  However,  the  work  may  be  done  in  spring,  but  the  danger  is 
that  it  will  be  put  off  so  long  that  the  young  grass  will  not  become 
established  before  the  dry,  hot  weather  comes. 

The  Kinds  of  Plants  for  the  Main  Planting. — We  now  come 
to  the  details — the  particular  kinds  of  plants  to  use.  One  great 
principle  will  simplify  the  matter:  the  main  planting  should  be  for 
foliage  effects.  That  is,  think  first  of  giving  the  place  a  heavy  bor- 
der mass.    Flowers  are  mere  decorations. 

Select  those  trees  and  shrubs  which  are  the  commonest,  because 
they  are  cheapest,  hardiest  and  most  likely  to  grow.  There  is  no 
district  so  poor  and  bare  that  enough  plants  cannot  be  secured,  with- 
out money,  for  the  school  yard.  You  will  find  them  in  the  woods,  in 
old  yards,  along  tlie  fences.  It  is  little  matter  if  no  one  knows  their 
"  names.    What  is  handsomer  than  a  tangled  fence-row  ? 

Scatter  in  a  few  trees  along  the  fence  and  about  the  buildings. 
Maples,  basswood,  elms,  ashes,  buttonwood,  pepperidge,  oaks, 
beeches,  birches,  hickories,  poplars,  a  few  trees  of  pine  or  spruce  or 
hernlock — any  of  these  are  excellent.  If  the  country  is  bleak,  a 
rather  heavy  planting  of  evergreens  about  the  border,  in  the  place  of 
so  much  shrubbery,  is  excellent. 

For  shrubs,  use  the  common  things  to  be  found  in  the  woods  and 
swales,  together  with  roots  which  can  be  had  in  every  old  yard. 
Willows,  osiers,  witch-hazel,  dogwood,  wild  roses,  thorn  apples,  haws, 
elders,  sumac,  wild  honeysuckles — these  and  others  can  be  found  in 
every  school  district.  From  the  farmyards  can  be  secured  snow- 
balls, spireas,  lilacs,  forsythias,  mock-oranges,  roses,  snowberries, 
barberries,  flowering  currants,  honeysuckles  and  the  like. 

Vines  can  be  used  to  excellent  purpose  on  the  outbuildings  or  on 
the  schoolhouse  itself.  The  common  wild  Virginia  creeper  is  the 
most  serviceable. 

Kinds  of  Plants  for  Decoration. — Against  these  heavy  borders 
and  in  the  angles  about  the  building  many  kinds  of  flowering  plants 
can  be  grown.  The  flowers  are  much  more  easily  cared  for  in  such 
positions  than  they  are  in  the  middle  of  the  lawn,  and  they  also  show 
off  better.    Hollyhocks  are  very  effective. 


CRETI-;  Illfiir  SCHOOL 


FAIRVIEW  SCHOOL,  BEATRICE 


SCHOOL  BUILDINGS  AND  GROUNDS  IN  NEBRASKA 


133 


It  is  impossible  to  grow  many  flowers  in  the  school  ground  under 
present  conditions,  for  what  is  everybody's  business  is  nobody's 
business ;  and  then,  the  place  is  neglected  all  through  the  summer. 


Fig.  31.— Trees  enough  in  the  center,  but  the  place  needs  a  background 


Fio.  32.— A  row  of  willows  makes  the  place  atlraclive 


134  SCHOOL  BUILDINGS  AND  GROUNDS  IN   NEBRASKA 

GENERAL  REMARKS 

.\rore  tlian  one-third  of  all  public  schools  will  probably  always  be 
in  the  country.  They  will  have  most  intimate  relations  with  rural 
life.    \\"e  must  make  that  life  attractive  to  the  pupils. 

In  Europe  there  are  school  gardens,  and  similar  plans  are  recom- 
mended for  this  country.  It  is  certainly  desirable  that  some  area  be 
set  aside  for  the  actual  cultivation  of  plants  by  the  children,  and  for 
the  growing  of  specimens  to  be  used  in  the  schoolroom.  However, 
the  conditions  of  Europe  are  very  dilTerent  from  ours.  In  the  rural 
school  in  Germany  and  other  countries,  the  schoolhouse  is  the  teach- 
er's home.  He  lives  in  it  or  by  it.  The  summer  vacation  is  short. 
In  this  country,  there  is  no  one  to  care  for  the  rural  school  ground 
in  the  long  summer  vacation.  Teachers  change  frequently.  It  is 
impossible  to  have  uniformity  and  continuity  of  purpose.  In  the 
Old  Worlds  the  rural  schools  are  in  the  hamlets. 

We  shall  be  very  glad  to  correspond  w'ith  any  persons  who  are  in- 
terested in  improving  school  premises,  either  on  the  lines  herein  sug- 
gested, or  in  other  directions.  The  improvement  must  come,  or,  one 
by  one,  the  rural  schools  will  die  out  for  lack  of  pupils.  In  the  strug- 
gle for  existence,  the  pupils  will  more  and  more  seek  the  more  at- 
tractive schools.  There  must  be  rural  schools,  whether  in  the  open 
country  or  in  the  hamlet ;  and  wherever  they  are,  they  must  be 
cheered  and  brightened. 

A  Flower  Day  every  October  would  be  a  fitting  complement  of 
Arbor  Day.  Already  flower  shows  have  been  held  in  various  rural 
schools.  They  are  symbols  of  the  harvest.  We  want  to  focalize  this 
movement  in  the  coming  year.  We  call  upon  every  citizen  for  sym- 
pathy and  cooperation. 

A  revolution  in  rural  school  grounds  will  not  come  suddenly. 
Here  and  there  a  beginning  will  be  made,  and  slowly  the  great  work 
will  spread. 


•     •  •   ."•VST'  jJi     '•  .        *        •J 


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SCHOOL  BUILDINGS  AND  GROUNDS  IN   NEBRASKA  137 

The  Blair  High  School 

The  new  high  school  building  at  Blair  was  erected  during  the 
school  year  1899-1900  at  a  cost  of  nearly  $40,000.  This  amount  in- 
cludes site,  sidewalks,  heating  apparatus  and  about  seven  hundred 
dollars'  worth  of  new  furniture.  Without  these  necessary  accessor- 
ies the  building  cost  fully  thirty  thousand  dollars.  To  pay  for  this 
building  the  School  District  City  of  Blair  voted  $32,000  in  bonds, 
running  twenty  years  with  a  ten-year  option,  with  interest  at  four 
per  cent.  These  bonds  were  sold  at  a  premium  of  several  hundred 
dollars,  and  the  entire  proceeds,  together  with  nearly  eight  thousand 
dollars  in  cash  in  the  treasury  of  the  district,  were  expended  in  the 
erection  of  this  magnificent  building,  under  the  supervision  of  the 
board,  the  architect,  Mr.  John  Latenser  of  Omaha,  and  a  superin- 
tendent of  construction  in  the  employ  of  the  board. 

The  total  length  of  the  building  is  126  feet,  its  width  is  79  feet. 
Each  end  or  wing  is  about  34  by  79  feet,  and  the  central  portion  is 
nearly  60  feet  square.  It  extends  east  and  west,  facing  south.  The 
main  fronts  are  in  the  south  and  east.  It  is  built  of  dark  red  pressed 
brick,  with  red  stone  trimmings,  and  with  slate  roof.  The  basement 
contains  a  boiler  and  fuel  room  in  the  northwest  corner,  toilet  rooms 
under  the  tw^enty-five  by  twenty-eight  foot  schoolrooms,  and  vacant 
rooms  in  the  three  other  corners.  The  first  floor  is  devoted  exclu- 
sively to  primary  and  fifth  grade  pupils,  and  the  second  floor  to  the 
high  school.  The  old  Central  building,  containing  the  sixth,  seventh, 
and  eighth  grades,  is  located  to  the  northwest  of  the  new  building, 
but  on  the  same  block. 

All  the  walls  shown  on  the  first  floor  plan  extend  down  through 
the  basement  to  the  foundation,  with  the  exception  of  those  between 
the  hall  and  the  two  wardrobes  near  the  center  of  the  .building ;  and 
all  those  in  and  surrounding  the  two  wings,  the  cast  and  west  ends, 
extend  up  to  the  roof.  The  inner  walls  of  the  central  portion  stop 
at  the  second  floor,  and  the  entire  central  portion  forms  on  the  second 
floor  the  high  school  assembly  room.  On  the  first  floor  there  are  si.x 
grade  rooms.  The  two  north  central  ones  are  occupied  by  third  and 
fourth  grades,  each  with  a  seating  capacity  of  forty-eight  pupils. 
In  these  the  children  face  east,  and  each  room  is  lighted  by  five 
windows  on  the  north,  to  the  left  of  the  children,  and  hall  and  door 


I3S  SCHOOL  BUILDINGS  AND  GROUNDS  IN  NEBRASKA 

windows  to  the  right.  There  is  slate  blackboard  on  the  front  and 
rear  walls  of  these  two  rooms,  three  and  one-half  feet  in  width,  and 
above  the  front  blackboard  is  another  blackboard  three  feet  in  width, 
for  writing  copies,  drills,  and  practice  work.  In  each  corner  room 
there  are  five  windows  to  the  left  of  the  children  and  two  at  the  rear 
of  the  room.  All  east,  south  and  west  windows  on  both  floors  have 
opaque  green  shades  with  adjustable  roller  fixtures,  permitting  the 
rollers  to  be  lowered  from  the  top.  Blackboards  extend  across  the 
two  inner  walls  of  each  corner  room,  three  and  one-half  feet  wide 
with  three  feet  more  above  in  the  front,  and  three  and  one-half  feet 
wide  to  the  right.  In  every  room  there  is  an  unbroken  front  wall  from 
corner  to  corner.  There  is  a  teacher's  closet  set  into  the  wall  to  the 
right  of  the  pupils.  The  ceilings  are  nearly  twelve  feet  high.  The 
pupils  pass  through  the  wardrobe  and  enter  the  rear  of  the  room. 
The  wardrobes  are  three  feet  six  inches  wide  and  have  hooks  num- 
bered from  one  to  sixty  on  the  longer  side.  The  steam-heated  air 
enters  each  room  near  the  ceiling,  and  the  foul  air  vent  is  close  to  the 
floor,  both  openings  being  on  the  inner  side  wall  of  the  room.  The 
board  of  education  room  is  used  temporarily  as  a  library.  There  is 
a  drinking  fountain  on  each  floor.  Each  corner  room  has  a  seating 
capacity  of  fifty-four  pupils.  The  two  east  ones  are  used  for  first 
and  second  grades,  and  the  two  west  ones  for  the  fifth  grade.  There 
are  two  other  primary  ward  buildings  in  the  city,  but  from  the  fifth 
grade  up  all  pupils  are  concentrated  at  the  new  and  old  Central 
buildings. 

The  high  school  assembly  and  study  room  has  a  seating  capacity 
at  present  of  200  pupils,  which  may  be  increased  to  225,  leaving 
ample  room  for  aisles.  All  the  desks  in  the  building  are  single  ones. 
The  pupils  face  east,  receiving  the  main  light  from  the  north  and 
left.  The  north  windows  are  a  little  larger  than  the  south  ones.  The 
ceiling  of  the  assembly  room  is  sixteen  feet  high,  and  is  a  beautiful 
design  in  corrugated  metal.  There  are  no  pillars  or  posts  in  the 
room.  Ten  incandescent  lamps,  sixteen  or  thirty-two  candle  power 
at  option,  light  the  room  at  night.  Slate  blackboard  extends  across 
the  front  of  the  room,  except  at  the  opening,  where  there  are  double 
doors.  There  is  a  platform  two  steps  high  and  six  by  fourteen 
feet  in  the  front  of  the  room.  In  the  rear  of  the  room  near  the  cor- 
ners are  four  bookcases  built  into  the  room,  two  on  each  side,  wit' 
niches  above  for  statuary.    There  are  two  registers  or  openings  fo 


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SCHOOL  BUILDINGS  AND  GROUNDS  IN  NEBRASKA  143 

the  entrance  of  the  steam-heated  air  near  the  center  of  the  room,  and 
a  foul  air  exit  in  each  corner. 

THE  BASEMENT 

The  girls  use  the  east  entrance  to  the  building,  exclusively,  and 
the  boys  tlie  west.  After  passing  through  the  outer  doors  pupils 
may  pass  down  to  the  toilet  rooms  in  the  basement  in  privacy,  or  up 
into  the  main  hall.  The  toilet  rooms  also  have  outdoor  north  en- 
trances for  the  use  of  the  pupils  of  the  old  Central,  and  a  trellis 
fence  extends  from  one  building  to  the  other,  dividing  the  grounds. 
As  Blair  has  no  sewerage  system,  an  improved  system  of  dry  closets 
is  in  use  in  the  toilet  rooms.  The  northeast  and  southwest  corner 
basement  rooms  may  be  used  in  stormy  weather  for  play  or  dinner, 
by  the  girls  and  boys  respectively.  The  building  is  heated  with 
steam.  Radiators  have  been  placed  in  halls  and  offices,  but  for  the 
schoolrooms  the  indirect  system,  or  gravity  system,  of  heating  and 
ventilating  is  used.  The  rooms  in  the  basement  directly  below  and 
corresponding  to  the  first  floor  wardrobes  are  cold  air  chambers. 
There  is  no  opening  from  these  into  the  basement  rooms,  but  there  is 
a  door  into  the  hall  or  corridor.  The  basement  window  of  these  cold 
air  rooms  is  kept  open  during  the  day,  and  the  cold  fresh  air  enters, 
is  heated  as  it  passes  over  and  through  coils  of  steam  pipes,  and  then 
it  passes  up  through  flues  to  the  rooms  above,  which  it  enters  above 
the  blackboards.  By  crank  and  chain  the  teacher  may  regulate  the 
temperature  of  the  fresh  air  that  enters  her  room  without  reducing 
the  amount  of  air.  The  raising  and  lowering  of  a  damper  attached  to 
the  chain  permits  the  air  to  pass  between  the  steam-heated  coils,  or 
around  them,  or  partly  between  and  partly  around  them.  Foul  air 
vents  or  exits  are  near  the  floor  line,  those  of  the  second  floor  rooms 
being  directly  above  the  first  floor  inlets  of  fresh  air;  the  first  floor 
outlets  are  built  in  between  and  divided  from  the  two  fresh  air  flues ; 
thus  the  columns  of  air  in  the  foul  air  flues  arc  heatf^d  and  kept  ris- 
ing. The  foul  air  vents  for  the  two  middle  rooms  on  the  first  floor 
are  in  the  floor,  and  galvanized  iron  ducts  near  the  ceiling  of  the 
basement  carry  the  foul  air  to  the  southeast  and  southwest  corner 
stacks.  The  fresh  air  for  the  central  portion  of  the  building  enters 
through  the  basement  windows  of  the  rooms  below  the  secretary's 
and  superintendent's  offices,  and  is  conducted  through  tunnels  under 
the  basement  floor  to  cold  air  chambers  below  the  wardrobes  in  the 


144  SCHOOL  BUILDINGS  AND  GROUNDS  IN  NEBRASKA 

hall  of  the  first  floor.  A  flue  from  each  of  these  passes  up  to  the 
high  school  assembly  room  on  the  second  floor,  where  the  two  have 
outlet  into  the  room  through  registers  fifty  by  twenty  by  thirty  inches 
each.  The  foul  air  vents  for  the  assembly  room  are  in  the  four  cor- 
ners of  the  room,  passing  up  and  out  through  the  ceiling  and  the 
highest  parts  of  the  roof.  Steam  and  return  pipes  run  from  the  boil- 
ers in  the  northwest  corner  to  the  system  of  direct  radiation  in  the  old 
Central  building. 


I 


SCHOOL  BUILDINGS  AND  GROUNDS  IN  NEBRASKA  I47 


Free  High  School  Attendance 

Free  attendance  at  public  high  schools  for  the  graduates  of  our 
rural  schools  has  agitated  educational  circles  in  Nebraska  for  many 
years.  As  each  school  district  in  the  state  is  independent  of  all  others 
in  its  organization,  management  and  course  of  study,  the  pupils  in 
rural  commimities  do  not  have  the  advantages  of  those  who  live  in 
the  cities  and  villages  where  high  schools  have  been  established. 
Various  laws  have  been  devised  to  provide  free  instruction  for  the 
graduates  of  the  rural  schools  in  the  established  high  schools  of  the 
cities  and  villages,  but  these  laws  have  been  successively,  declared  un- 
constitutional or  have  proven  to  be  unsatisfactory.  That  there  is  a 
demand  for  this  free  instruction  cannot  be  successfully  denied.  The 
illustrations  of  the  non-resident  attendants  at  the  high  schools  of 
Ord,  Nelson  and  Auburn  successfully  prove  this.  In  each  of  the 
high  schools  in  these  small  cities  there  are  enrolled  a  large  number 
of  pupils  from  the  rural  school  districts  round  about.  These  pupils 
are,  as  a  rule,  and  as  their  appearance  indicates,  the  cream  of  the 
country  schools,  and  not  only  maintain  but  raise  the  standard  of  the 
schools  that  they  attend.  Every  pupil  in  Nebraska  should  be  granted 
free  school  privileges  from  the  kindergarten  to  the  university,  as 
many  now  are. 

HIGH  SCHOOL  CADETS 

The  military  spirit  is  quite  rife  in  the  state  and  has  been  since  the 
Spanish-American  war.  In  many  of  the  cities  of  Nebraska  with  a 
census  of  from  2,000  to  8,000  are  found  high  school  cadet  organiza- 
tions. The  village  of  Elgin  with  a  census  of  250  children  of  school 
age  has  its  company  of  high  school  cadets. 

LINCOLN   COUNTY  SUMMER  SCHOOL 

On  account  of  the  lack  of  normal  school  facilities  in  the  central 
and  western  portions  of  the  state,  summer  schools  held  in  connec- 
tion with  teachers'  county  institutes  are  common  there.  This  illus- 
tration shows  the  type  of  the  bright  young  people  who  teach  school 
in  the  central  and  western  portions  of  the  state.  This  school  was 
held  during  the  summer  of  1901. 


148  SCHOOL  BUILDINGS  AND  GROUNDS  IN  NEBRASKA 

WOMEN  COUNTY  SUPERINTENDENTS 

Among  the  teachers  of  Nebraska,  including  city  superintendents 
and  principals,  the  women  outnumber  the  men  about  three  or  four 
to  one.  Among  the  county  superintendents  the  reverse  is  true  with 
interest.  At  the  present  time  there  are  sixteen  women  and  seventy- 
four  men  among  the  county  superintendents  in  the  state.  During 
the  past  biennium  there  were  eighteen  women.  Mrs.  Eva  J.  Case  of 
Webster  county  retired  from  office  January  9  after  seven  years' 
faithful  and  efficient  work  in  that  capacity.  Miss  Bertha  Thoelecke 
retired  from  the  office  of  superintendent  of  Lincoln  county  schools 
on  January  9,  after  two  terms  of  faithful  and  efficient  service.  Lin- 
coln county  is  forty-eight  by  fifty-four  miles  in  area,  and  is  di- 
vided into  107  school  districts.  The  dangers,  privations  and  ex- 
posure to  which  the  women  county  superintendents  in  the  central 
and  western  portions  of  the  state,  the  frontier  counties,  are  exposed, 
are  but  little  understood  or  appreciated,  even  by  the  people  of  their 
own  counties. 


SCHOOL  BUILDINGS  AND  GROUNDS  IN  NEBRASKA  159 


Our  Illustrations 

The  illustrations  in  this  volume  are  believed  to  be  fairly  repre- 
sentative of  the  general  appearance  and  condition  of  school  buildings 
in  Nebraska.  Certain  types,  perhaps,  predominate,  and  other  typical 
buildings  in  the  state  are  not  represented,  but  a  careful  scrutiny  of 
these  illustrations  and  a  study  of  Statistical  Table  No.  I  near  the 
close  of  the  volume,  exhibiting  the  number  of  schoolhouses  of  wood, 
brick,  stone,  log  and  sod,  respectively,  will  prevent  one  from  form- 
ing a  wrong  impression  of  the  actual  material  school  conditions  in 
Nebraska.  The  log  schoolhouses  form  less  than  two  per  cent  of 
the  total  number  of  schoolhouses  in  Nebraska,  and  the  sod  houses 
less  than  seven  per  cent  of  the  total.  Some  of  the  latter  may  be 
valued  at  little  more  than  the  cost  of  the  doors  and  door  frames,  the 
window  sashes  and  window  frames,  the  flooring,  and  the  shingles 
where  they  have  a  shingle  roof ;  and  from  this  low  valuation  we 
must  range  up  all  the  way  by  hundreds,  thousands,  and  tens  of 
thousands  of  dollars  to  almost  two  hundred  thousand  dollars  to  in- 
clude the  cost  of  all  the  several  kinds  of  school  buildings  in  the 
state.  The  value  of  school  district  property  in  the  state  is  estimated 
at  nearly  ten  millions  of  dollars. 

Although  representative,  these  illustrations  are  not  used  here  as 
models  for  school  buildings.  Some  of  them  are  far  from  it.  Nearly 
all  the  photographs  and  cuts  received  at  the  state  department  are 
h.ere  used,  principally  for  the  purpose  of  showing  what  exists  in  the 
state  and  the  great  differences  in  conditions.  Some  of  the  frame 
and  brick  buildings  herein  pictured  are  very  poorly  arranged  within, 
incorrectly  lighted,  without  any  ventilation  except  by  doors  and 
windows,  and  sometimes  when  the  arrangement  of  windows  makes 
an  excellent  liglit  any  good  results  have  been  counteracted  by  an  im- 
proper placing  antl  arrangement  of  the  desks.  The  Sutherland  rural 
schoolhouse  in  district  No.  20  of  Washington  county,  the  new  brick 
schoolhouse  in  district  No.  3  of  Fillmore  county,  the  Calhoun  build- 
ing, the  Blair  high  school  building  and  the  Omaha  buildings,  with  a 
few  others,  may  be  referred  to  as  models. 

One  great  obstacle  to  the  erection  of  better  school  buildings  in 
Nebraska  is  tl  e  small  size  of  many  of  the  districts  and  their  conse- 
quent low  assessed  valuation.    The  school  laws  of  Nebraska  say  that 


l60  SCHOOL  BUILDINGS  AND  GROUNDS  IN   NEBRASKA 

bonds  for  the  purpose  of  purchasing  a  site  for,  and  erecting  thereon, 
a  schoolhouse  or  schoolhouses  may  be  voted  and  issued  in  an  aggre- 
gate amount  not  to  exceed  five  per  cent  of  the  last  complete  assess- 
ment of  the  taxable  property  of  the  district,  except  in  districts  having 
more  than  two  hundred  children  of  school  age;  in  districts  having 
two  hundred  or  more  children,  the  amount  of  bonded  indebtedness 
must  not  exceed  ten  per  cent  of  the  last  complete  assessed  valuation. 
In  many  rural  school  districts  of  Nebraska  the  assessed  valuation  is 
only  a  few  thousand  dollars,  and  five  per  cent  of  the  amount  will  not 
raise  five  hundred  dollars  for  the  purchase  of  a  site  and  the  erection 
of  a  schoolhouse  thereon ;  sometimes  not  two-thirds  of  the  amount 
can  be  realized.  In  many  villages  of  the  state  employing  three  or 
four  teachers,  with  a  school  census  of  150  to  190  children,  requiring 
a  four-room  school  building,  the  total  assessed  valuation  is  often 
not  in  excess  of  $50,000,  five  per  cent  of  which  would  not  build 
much  more  than  one-half  of  a  good  four-room  school  building.  The 
remedy  lies  in  larger,  richer,  more  populous  school  districts.  Small 
districts  with  a  few  children  are  too  highly  expensive. 

NEW  OMAHA  HIGH  SCHOOL  BUILDING 

Omaha,  the  metropolis  of  Nebraska,  very  naturally  boasts  of  the 
finest  high  school  building  in  the  state.  The  east  wing  only  of  the 
new  building  is  now  completed  at  a  cost  of  about  $190,000.  It  was 
dedicated  Saturday,  February  i,  1902,  and  on  the  following  Monday 
morning  the  Omaha  high  school  moved  into  its  new  commodious 
quarters.  This  wing  contains  about  thirty  rooms,  including  eighteen 
class  rooms,  two  study  rooms,  laboratories,  library,  gymnasium,  of- 
fice rooms,  etc.  The  class  rooms  are  twenty-four  feet  square  and 
designed  to  accommodate  thirty  pupils  each.  The  study  rooms 
will  seat  about  20'o  pupils  in  each.  In  place  of  cloak  rooms  540 
double  lockers  are  provided  in  the  halls,  and  there  are  also  twelve 
toilet  rooms,  four  on  each  floor.  The  indirect  system  of  steam  heat- 
ing is  used  and  the  plenum  system  of  fan  ventilation.  Natural  slate 
blackboards  are  used  throughout.  The  lighting  is  from  the  left  and 
rear  of  the  pupils  as  they  are  seated.  The  building  is  solid  and  sub- 
stantial in  construction,  artistic  in  exterior  appearance  and  beautiful 
in  interior  finish,  and  constructed  of  the  best  material  throughout. 
In  future  years  the  old  high  school  building,  of  which  all  except 
the  tower  is  now  hidden  from  view  from  the  east,  will  be  removed 


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SCHOOL  BUILDINGS  AND  GROUNDS  IN  NEBRASKA  163 

and  a  building  similar  to  the  illustration  following  that  of  the  wing 
will  take  its  place. 

DISTRICT  SCHOOLS  IN   HALL  COUNTY 

The  school  building  in  district  No.  70  of  Hall  county  was  erected 
in  the  fall  of  1886  at  a  cost  of  about  $500.  It  contains  patent  desks, 
a  blackboard  made  of  poplar  lumber  and  lampblack,  but  no  appa- 
ratus. The  schoolroom  is  heated  by  a  stove  and  ventilated  by  win- 
dows. There  is  a  cloak  room,  although  it  is  probably  in  darkness, 
and  the  schoolroom  is  lighted  by  three  windows  on  each  side. 

The  school  building  in  district  No.  51  was  erected  in  1888  at  a 
cost  of  about  $300.  It  contains  patent  desks,  a  small  amount  of 
slate  blackboard  and  some  charts.  There  is  no  entry  way  or  cloak 
room,  and,  like  the  schoolhouse  in  district  No.  70  and  many  others 
in  all  parts  of  Nebraska,  it  is  lighted  by  three  windows  on  each  side. 
It  is  heated  by  a  stove  and  ventilated  by  windows. 

DISTRICT  SCHOOL   NO.    54,   CHERRY   COUNTY 

This  sod  schoolhouse  was  erected  in  1897  at  a  cost  of  $50.  The 
photograph  of  it  was  probably  taken  during  an  eclipse.  It  contains 
home-made  furniture,  about  five  feet  of  painted  blackboard  and  no 
apparatus.  It  is  lighted  by  one  window  on  each  side.  There  is  no 
system  of  ventilation  and  none  is  needed.  The  irregular  appear- 
ance of  the  corners  is  caused  by  cattle  rubbing  against  them.  The 
building  is  now  protected  by  a  wire  fence.  The  roof  is  covered  with 
sod.  This  is  not  a  typical  Cherry  county  schoolhouse.  Many  good 
frame  school  buildings  have  been  erected  in  that  county  within  the 
past  three  years. 

DISTRICT  SCHOOL   NO.   69,   ROCK   COUNTY 

This  building  was  not  erected  for  school  purposes.  It  is  a  home, 
but  school  is  held  in  it.  It  was  erected  in  1895  and  is  furnished 
with  modern  desks,  wooden  blackboards,  no  apparatus  and  a  stove. 
The  lighting  is,  naturally  enough,  very  poor,  while  the  chief  char- 
acteristic of  the  building  is  its  warmth. 

WASHINGTON  SCHOOL,  NEMAHA  COUNTY 

This  school  is  in  district  No.  24,  and  is  just  the  ordinary  type  of 
school  building  to  be  found  in  many  school  districts  in  the  south- 


164  SCHOOL  BUILDINGS  AND  GROUNDS  IN  NEBRASKA 

eastern  portion  of  the  state.  The  teacher,  Miss  Hattie  Miller,  and 
the  county  superintendent,  W.  C.  Parriott,  both  appear  in  the 
illustration. 

DISTRICT  SCHOOL  NO.    I,   MERRICK  COUNTY 

This  schoolhouse  was  erected  in  1885  at  a  cost  of  about  $1,200. 
It  is  located  at  Lockwood  station  on  the  Union  Pacific  railroad,  in 
the  southeastern  corner  of  Merrick  county.  Its  outward  appearance 
is  much  the  same  as  other  schoolhouses  in  the  eastern  portion  of  the 
state.  There  are  about  thirty-five  pupils  enrolled,  and  the  teacher, 
Mr.  Edw.  D.  Patterson,  is  now  serving  his  eighth  year  in  that 
district.  As  may  be  seen  in  the  illustration,  it  contains  single  desks, 
slate  blackboard,  a  liberal  supply  of  maps  and  charts,  a  dictionary, 
library,  museum,  etc.  There  are,  however,  no  cloak  rooms,  and  no 
system  of  heating  and  ventilating  other  than  by  the  stove  and  win- 
dows.   The  room  is  lighted  from  the  left,  right  and  rear. 

DISTRICT  SCHOOL  NO.   I9,  FRONTIER  COUNTY 

This  curiosity  in  the  shape  of  a  school  building  was  erected  about 
1892  at  a  cost  of  $15.  It  is  not  a  representative  schoolhouse  and 
never  was.  It  was  replaced  in  the  summer  of  1501  by  a  good  frame 
schoolhouse.  It  contained  home-made  furniture,  a  small  wooden 
blackboard,  no  apparatus,  a  stove  and  a  system  of  ventilation  through 
chinks  in  the  wall.  There  was  a  door  in  one  side  and  a  window  in 
each  of  the  three  other  sides.  Nearly  all  the  school  districts  in 
Frontier  county  have  good  frame  buildings,  old-fashioned  perha])s, 
but  commodious  enough  and  well  furnished.  There  is  only  one 
log  schoolhouse  in  existence  in  that  county  at  present,  and  it  is 
well  built  and  properly  furnished. 

THE  LONG  SCHOOL,  OMAHA 

This  building  and  the  other  Omaha  buildings  illustrated  in  this 
volume  were  all  designed  by  Mr.  John  Latenser.  The  Long  school 
cost  nearly  $25,000.  It  contains  eight  school  rooms,  an  office  and 
a  supply  room.  There  are  also  play  rooms  in  the  basement.  All 
grades  below  the  high  school,  including  the  kindergarten,  are  rep- 
resented. The  furniture,  blackboard  and  interior  finish  are  all  of 
the  best.  It  is  heated  with  a  furnace,  and  the  gravity  system  of 
ventilation  is  in  use.    There  are  both  cloak  rooms  and  toilet  rooms 


BEATRICE  SOUTH  WARD  SCHOOL 


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SCHOOL  BUILDINGS  AND  GROUNDS  IN  NEBRASKA  I67 

in  the  building.  All  schoolrooms  in  buildings  designed  by  Mr. 
Latenser  are  lighted  from  the  left  of  the  pupils  by  four,  five  or  six 
windows,  with  perhaps  two  to  the  rear. 

FRANKLIN  PUBLIC  SCHOOL 

This  building  was  erected  a  little  more  than  a  year  ago  at  a 
cost  of  $8,000.  It  contains  seven  schoolrooms,  two  recitation  rooms 
and  a  library,  and  it  houses  all  the  grades  from  the  first  to  the  tenth 
inclusive.  The  desks  are  patent  ones,  partly  single  and  partly 
double.  Green  hyloplate  blackboards  are  in  use.  It  was  built 
for  a  system  of  heating  by  means  of  hot  air,  but  stoves  are  still 
being  used.  There  is  no  system  of  ventilation,  but  it  contains  cloak 
rooms.  Some  of  the  rooms  are  lighted  from  the  left  and  rear, 
some  from  the  right  and  rear.  It  contains  broad  halls  and  stair- 
ways, with  three  exits.  The  interior  arrangement  is  quite 
convenient. 

CALHOUN  PUBLIC  SCHOOL 

This  is  a  model  four-room  frame  school  building  erected  one 
year  ago  at  a  cost  of  about  $6,000.  Besides  the  four  schoolrooms 
it  contains  an  office.  It  is  the  only  school  building  in  Calhoun  and 
accommodates  the  ten  grades  there.  One  room  has  been  seated 
with  new  single  seats,  v/hile  in  the  others  the  double  seats  from  the 
old  building  are  in  use.  The  plaster  blackboards  are  still  in  use, 
but  at  any  time  in  the  future  these  may  be  covered  with  natural 
slate.  The  building  is  properly  heated  and  ventilated  by  the  hot 
air  system.  All  schoolrooms  are  lighted  from  the  left  and  rear. 
A  complete  description  of  the  floor  plans  of  the  building  is  given 
elsewhere  under  Model  Plans  for  Village  Schools. 

THREE   NORTH  PLATTE  HIGH   SCHOOLS 

These  illustrations  show  the  evolution  of  the  high  school  in  one 
of  the  most  enterprising  cities  in  the  western  portion  of  the  state, 
North  Platte,  on  the  Union  Pacific  railroad.  We  have  here  the  first 
log  schoolhouse  erected  in  the  town  in  1868,  the  old-fashioned 
brick  schoolhouse  that  took  its  place  in  1873,  and  the  modern  high 
school  building  erected  two  years  ago  at  a  cost  of  $30,000.  This 
latter  contains  an  assembly  room,  eight  schoolrooms,  four  class 
rooms,  two  office  rooms  and  a  library.     There  are  also  cloak  and 


l68  SCHOOL  BUILDINGS  AND  GROUNDS  IN   NEBRASKA 

toilet  rooms.  All  grades  from  the  sixth  to  the  twelfth  inclusive 
are  represented  in  this  building.  Excellent  new  single  desks,  slate 
blackboard  and  all  apparatus  required  for  efficient  school  work  are 
supplied.  The  building  is  properly  heated  by  steam  and  ventilated 
with  air  flues  from  each  room.  The  rooms  are  also  properly 
lighted. 

SUPERIOR  SCHOOL  BUILDINGS 

The  North  school  in  Superior  was  erected  in  1890  at  a  cost  of 
$12,000.  It  contains  four  rooms  with  grades  below  the  eighth  only. 
It  is  seated  with  single  desks,  furnished  with  plaster  blackboard 
and  heated  with  steam.  It  is  ventilated,  but  the  windows  were 
arranged  with  reference  to  their  appearance  from  the  outside 
rather  than  with  reference  to  the  convenience  and  the  eye-sight  of 
the  children  within. 

The  Superior  high  school  building  was  erected  in  1885  at  a  cost 
of  $14,500.  It  contains  eight  rooms,  including  rooms  for  the  first 
three  primary  grades,  two  laboratories,  assembly  and  recitation 
rooms  and  an  office.  Its  other  equipment,  heating  and  ventilation 
are  similar  to  the  North  building  of  Superior. 

PLEASANT  PRAIRIE  SCHOOL,  PAWNEE  COUNTY 

This  schoolhouse  is  located  in  District  No.  14.  It  was  erected 
in  1893  or  1894  at  a  cost  of  about  $1,700.  It  is  built  of  brick,  and 
contains  a  large  schoolroom  that  will  seat  seventy-two  pupils  in 
single  desks.  There  is  slate  blackboard  around  the  entire  room, 
and  it  is  well  provided  with  maps,  charts  and  apparatus  generally. 
It  is  located  three  miles  east  of  Pawnee  City  in  the  center  of  a 
school  district  comprising  nine  sections  of  land,  with  a  total  assessed 
valuation  of  $53,275.  There  are  windows  on  all  four  sides  of  the 
room.  The  front  and  rear  walls  appear  in  the  illustrations.  The 
building  has  a  tower  with  a  large  bell  in  it.  The  district  has  nine 
months  of  school  each  year,  and  pays  the  teacher  a  good  salary. 

EUSTIS  PUBLIC  SCHOOL 

The  illustrations  used  are  of  the  intermediate  department  at 
Eustis.  There  is  in  that  little  village  a  two-room  building  erected 
in  1888  at  a  cost  of  $1,400,  containing  the  intermediate  and  gram- 
mar departments,  and  a  one-room  building  for  the  primary  depart- 


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SCHOOL  BUILDINGS  AND  GROUNDS  IN   NEBILi\SKA  171 

ment  erected  in   1899.     The  two  buildings   have  a  full   block  of 
ground. 

OMAHA  GRADED  SCHOOLS 

The  Cass,  Saunders  and  Pacific  schools  of  Omaha  are  all  much 
alike  in  their  general  plan  and  convenience  of  interior  arrangement. 

The  Cass  school  was  erected  in  1900  at  a  cost  of  $49,000.  In 
size  it  is  what  is  known  as  a  sixteen-room  building  and  in  addition 
to  the  sixteen  schoolrooms  contains  one  principal's  office,  one  teach- 
ers' room  and  play  rooms  in  the  basement.  The  eight  grades  below 
the  high  school  are  all  represented  in  this  building.  It  is  furnished 
with  the  best  single  desks  and  natural  slate  blackboard.  The  indi- 
rect system  of  steam  heating  is  used  and  the  gravity  system  of 
ventilation.  There  is  one  cloak  room  in  connection  with  each  school- 
room and  two  toilet  rooms  in  the  basement,  one  for  each  sex.  The 
pupils  in  each  room  are  seated  so  as  to  face  an  unbroken  front  wall, 
with  five  or  six  windows  at  the  left  and  two  in  the  rear  of  the  room. 

The  Saunders  school  was  erected  in  1900  at  a  cost  of  $32,000. 
It  contains  ten  schoolrooms,  a  principal's  office,  a  teachers'  room  and 
play  rooms  in  the  basement.  It  is  similar  to  the  Cass  school  in  the 
features  mentioned  above,  except  that  a  furnace  is  used  in  heating 
and  a  fan  in  ventilating. 

The  Pacific  school  was  erected  in  1900  at  a  cost  of  $48,000.  It 
is  also  a  sixteen-room  building  and  is  very  similar  to  the  Cass 
school  in  interior  arrangements  and  conveniences,  heating,  ventila- 
tion, cloak  and  toilet  rooms.  A  greater  difference  is  apparent  in 
the  illustrations  of  the  Cass  and  Pacific  schools  than  can  be  found 
when  one  is  within  the  buildings.  The  differences  are  mainly  in 
the  "trimmings,"  although  it  cannot  be  honestly  said  that  cither 
building  is  over-trimmed.  They  are  architecturally  beautiful  in 
their  simplicity. 

SIDNEY  PUBLIC  SCHOOL 

This  building  was  erected  in  1887  at  a  cost  of  $17,500.  It  is  a 
substantial  stone  structure,  although  the  entire  roof  and  gable  ends 
are  of  wood.  It  contains  six  schoolrooms,  two  recitation  rooms, 
one  study  and  one  library  room.  The  furniture  is  modem  and  the 
blackboard  a  natural  slate.  The  building  is  heated  with  a  furnace 
and  ventilated.  It  contains  cloak  rooms,  but  the  schoolrooms  arc 
lighted  from  the  left  and  rear  or  from  the  right  and  rear  according 
to  location. 


172  SCHOOL  BUILDINGS  AND  GROUNDS  IN  NEBRASKA 

STERLING  PUBLIC  SCHOOL 

There  are  a  number  of  school  buildings  in  the  state  of  Nebraska 
quite  similar  to  the  Sterling  building  in  structure  and  appearance. 
The  Syracuse  building  illustrated  elsewhere  differs  but  little  from 
the  Sterling  schoolhouse.  This  building  was  erected  in  1890  at  a 
cost  of  $10,000.  It  contains  six  schoolrooms,  and  they  have  eleven 
grades  in  the  building.  The  furniture  is  good,  the  blackboards  are 
concrete  and  there  is  a  fair  supply  of  apparatus.  The  building  is 
heated  with  a  furnace  and  properly  ventilated.  There  are  cloak 
rooms  in  connection  with  the  schoolrooms,  and  the  schoolrooms 
are  lighted  from  the  left  and  rear. 

COLERIDGE  PUBLIC  SCHOOL 

This  four-room  school  building  was  erected  in  1889  at  a  cost  of 
$5,000.  There  are  ten  grades  here,  good  furniture,  slate  black- 
boards and  some  apparatus.  The  rooms  are  heated  with  stoves  with 
an  insufficient  amount  of  ventilation  through  chimney  flues.  Cloak 
rooms  are  provided,  but  the  light  enters  the  schoolrooms  from  three 
sides. 

CEDAR  BLUFFS  PUBLIC  SCHOOL 

This  schoolhouse  is  in  district  No.  107  of  Saunders  county.  Part 
of  it  was  erected  fifteen  years  ago,  and  part  of  it  last  year,  and  it 
will  be  seen  in  the  illustration  that  no  improvement  was  made  in 
the  architecture  on  the  addition.  The  cost  of  the  building  was 
about  $6,000.  It  contains  six  rooms,  including  four  schoolrooms, 
one  recitation  or  office  room  and  one  room  not  finished.  There  are 
ten  grades  represented  here.  The  high  school  room  contains  single 
seats,  the  others  double  ones.  In  three  of  the  rooms  there  is  slate 
blackboard.  The  rooms  are  heated  with  stoves  with  no  arrange- 
ment for  ventilation.  The  halls  are  large  and  are  used  for  cloak 
rooms.  The  rooms  are  lighted  from  three  sides.  The  building  is 
provided  with  a  fire  escape. 

ANSELMO  PUBLIC  SCHOOL 

This  building  was  erected  in  1889  at  a  cost  of  about  $2,500.  It 
is  a  four-room  building,  although  only  two  of  the  rooms  are  now  in 
use.  The  blackboards  are  of  plaster.  The  rooms  are  heated  with 
stoves  and  without  a  system  of  ventilation.     The  halls  are  used  as 


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SCHOOL  BUILDINGS  AND  GROUNDS  IN  NEBRASKA  I75 

cloak  rooms.  The  building  was  poorly  constructed  so  that  it  >yas 
necessary  to  expend  $400  on  repairs  recently.  It  is  now  reported 
to  be  in  good  condition. 

DISTRICT  SCHOOLS  IN  HALL  COUNTY 

The  schoolhouse  in  district  No.  13  was  erected  in  1898  at  a  cost 
of  $1,200.  This  building  is  like  many  another  in  the  state,  but  it 
'  is  larger  than  the  average.  There  is  a  cloak  room  or  entry  way 
and  a  large,  roomy  schoolroom.  This  room  is  quite  attractive  with 
new  desks,  a  good  heating  stove,  clean  walls,  pictures,  mottoes, 
etc.,  all  of  which  make  the  room  appear  very  homelike.  The  result 
is  an  excellent  school  spirit  in  that  district  and  a  crowded  school- 
room whenever  special  day  exercises  are  held. 

The  schoolhouse  in  district  No.  74  is  a  duplicate  of  the  building 
in  district  No.  i  of  Hall  county.  The  latter  is  quite  fully  described 
a  number  of  pages  further  on. 

GENEVA  SCHOOLS 

The  Geneva  ward  school,  a  two-room  building,  was  erected  in 
1888  at  a  cost  of  $4,000.  The  first  and  second  primary  grades  only 
are  housed  here.  The  building  is  a  brick  one  with  slate  blackboards, 
but  it  is  heated  with  stoves,  ventilated  by  means  of  doors  and  win- 
dows, and  the  rooms  are  lighted  from  the  right  of  the  children. 

The  interior  view  is  of  a  third  grade  schoolroom  in  the  high 
school  building. 

The  Geneva  high  school  building,  illustrated  further  on,  was 
erected  in  1883  at  a  cost  of  $7,000.  It  contains  six  schoolrooms 
and  one  recitation  room,  and  all  of  the  grades  from  the  third  to 
the  eleventh.  The  building  shown  in  the  illustration  to  the  rear 
of  the  high  school  building  is  also  used  for  school  purposes  and 
contains  two  rooms.  The  high  school  building  contains  slate  black- 
boards, good  furniture  and  apparatus  and  is  heated  with  stoves 
without  a  system  of  ventilation.  There  are  no  cloak  rooms  in 
connection  with  the  schoolrooms. 

DISTRICT  SCHOOL  NO.  7  OF  PERKINS  COUNTY 

This  schoolhouse  was  erected  in  the  fall  of  1900  at  a  cost  of  $204. 
The  building  represents  three  years  of  hard  saving  and  planning 
on  the  part  of  the  district.    One  year  they  went  without  school  en- 


176  SCHOOL  BUILDINGS  AND  GROUNDS  IN   NEBRASKA 

tirely,  and  then  had  to  join  two  districts  together  in  order  to  get 
$200  with  which  to  build  this  schoolhouse.  The  blackboards  are 
home-made,  and  the  ventilation  is  accidental  and  incidental.  Per- 
haps the  chief  characteristic  of  the  building  is  the  cheapness  with 
which  it  was  constructed. 

MAPLE  GROVE  SCHOOL,   HAMILTON  COUNTY 

This  schoolhouse  is  located  in  district  No.  14,  two  and  one-half 
miles  southwest  of  Aurora.  It  was  erected  in  1885  at  a  cost  of 
$1,000.  There  are  two  cloak  rooms  and  a  vestibule  besides  the 
schoolroom  proper.  It  is  seated  with  both  single  and  double  desks 
and  has  slate  blackboards.  The  building  itself  is  twenty-two  by 
thirty-six  feet  with  a  twelve-foot  ceiling.  There  is  a  large  base- 
ment in  the  building  walled  up  with  limestone  and  divided  into  two 
compartments,  one  for  coal  and  the  other  for  cobs.  The  stairway 
is  on  the  inside.  The  school  grounds  include  three  acres,  covered 
with  blue  grass  and  surrounded  with  three  rows  of  trees,  ash, 
maple  and  box-elder.  The  flag  seen  in  the  illustration  was  won  at 
a  county  fair.  There  is  a  twenty-foot  flag  pole  not  seen  in  the 
illustration. 

DISTRICT   SCHOOL   NO.    33,   LINCOLN    COUNTY 

The  schoolhouse  in  this  district  was  erected  in  1889  at  a  cost  of 
$2,500.  It  contains  two  schoolrooms,  a  grammar  department  and 
a  primary  department.  There  are  patent  school  desks,  slate  black- 
boards and  $800  worth  of  various  kinds  of  apparatus.  The  rooms 
are  heated  with  stoves  but  not  ventilated.  There  are  also  cloak 
rooms  and  a  sliding  partition  between  the  two  schoolrooms.  The 
district  lies  in  the  valley  between  the  North  and  South  Platte  river^ 
in  the  heart  of  the  oldest  irrigated  section  of  Lincoln  county.  The 
yard  contains  two  acres  of  land  and  is  fenced  with  posts  and 
piping.  It  contains  all  kinds  of  fruit  trees  with  a  row  of  Carolina 
poplars  around  the  outer  edge.  The  district  pays  as  high  as  $50 
a  month  to  its  teachers. 

ABIE    PUBLIC    SCHOOLS 

Abie  is  noted  for  the  honor  of  always  appearing  first  in  the 
alphabetical  list  of  the  graded  schools  of  the  state.  The  larger 
building  in  the  illustration  was  erected  in  1887  at  a  cost  of  $1,000 
and  the  smaller  one  in   1896  at  a  cost  of  $500.  The  rooms  are 


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AUBURN  HIGH  SCHOOU 


SCHOOL  BUILDINGS  AND  GROUNDS  IN  NEBRASKA  I79 

seated  with  double  desks  and  heated  with  stoves.  There  is  no  sys- 
tem of  ventilation.  The  light  enters  from  three  sides.  The  black- 
boards are  made  of  slated  paper.  The  buildings  are  located  on  a 
high  hill  overlooking  the  village. 

BURWELL  PUBLIC  SCHOOL 

The  schoolhouse  was  erected  in  1898  at  a  cost  of  about  $1,800.  It 
contains  four  schoolrooms,  each  about  twenty  by  thirty-two  feet, 
entirely  too  narrow.  Ten  grades  are  represented  in  the  building. 
The  rooms  are  furnished  with  double  desks  and  slate  blackboards. 
The  building  is  heated  with  a  furnace,  but  ventilated  by  means  of 
the  windows.  The  light  enters  from  the  left  and  rear  of  the 
pupils  on  one  side  of  the  building,  from  the  right  and  rear  on  the 
other  side.     Burwell  expects  to  erect  a  new  building  soon. 

SCRIBNER  PUBLIC  SCHOOL 

This  is  an  excellent  six-room  brick  school  building  that  cost  about 
$12,000  with  site.  There  is  a  seventh  room  for  recitation  pur- 
poses. It  is  furnished  with  single  desks,  slate  blackboard  and 
excellent  apparatus.  The  rooms  are  heated  with  steam  with  venti- 
lating flues  in  the  chimneys.  There  are  no  cloak  rooms  or  toilet 
rooms  in  the  building.  The  children  hang  their  wraps  in  the  hall- 
ways. The  pupils  face  a  middle  wall,  receiving  the  main  light  from 
the  rear. 

The  interior  views  represent  the  high  school  with  a  beginning 
Latin  class  at  the  blackboard  under  the  instruction  of  Prin.  Chas. 
Arnot,  now  superintendent  of  Dodge  county ;  another  high  school 
class  with  Miss  Eliza  Scherzer  as  teacher;  the  intermediate  de- 
partment with  Miss  Jessie  R.  Inches,  teacher;  and  a  grammar  de- 
partment with  Miss  Nellie  G.  Colder,  teacher.  As  may  be  seen  by 
the  clocks  in  the  illustrations,  these  views  were  taken  shortly  after 
roll  call  in  the  afternoon,  and  show  the  pupils  at  their  regular 
school  work  in  its  every-day  routine. 

KEARNEY  PUBLIC  SCHOOLS 

The  Longfellow  school  in  Kearney  was  erected  in  1892  at  a  cost 
of  $40,000.  This  is  the  high  school  building  of  Kearney  and  con- 
tains thirteen  rooms,  including  assembly  room,  recitation  rooms, 
laboratories,  offices,  library  and  two  first  primary  schoolrooms.     It 


l80  SCHOOL  BUILDINGS  AND  GROUNDS  IN  NEBRASKA 

is  modem  in  construction,  with  single  desks,  recitation  benches 
with  arms,  slate  blackboards  throughout  and  a  full  equipment  of 
apparatus  for  teaching  all  the  sciences.  The  Smead  system  of 
heating  and  ventilating  is  used.  There  are  separate  cloak  rooms 
for  the  boys  and  girls  and  toilet  rooms  in  the  basement.  The 
lighting  is  principally  from  the  left,  but  with  high  windows  in  the 
rear.  The  halls  are  wide,  with  easy  stairways.  The  building  is 
furnished  with  city  water  in  the  halls  and  laboratories,  and  lighted 
with  gas  and  electricity.  The  Longfellow  and  Whittier  schools  are 
placed  in  a  beautiful  park  consisting  of  more  than  six  acres  in  the 
heart  of  the  city.  This  park  is  seeded  with  blue  grass  and  clover, 
and  well  supplied  with  shade  trees. 

The  Alcott  and  Hawthorne  schools,  twin  buildings,  were  erected 
in  1892  at  a  cost  of  $20,000  for  the  two.  Each  contains  four  school- 
rooms and  houses  the  first  five  grades.  The  rooms  are  furnished 
with  single  desks  and  provided  with  slate  blackboards.  The  Smead 
system  of  heating  and  ventilating  is  in  use,  and  cloak  and  toilet 
rooms  are  provided.  In  other  particulars  these  two  buildings  re- 
semble the  Longfellow  school. 

The  Whittier  school  was  erected  in  1881  at  a  cost  of  $20,000. 
It  contains  seven  schoolrooms  and  all  grades  from  the  second  to 
the  eighth  inclusive.  It  is  heated  with  steam,  and  the  ventilators 
are  in  the  walls.  In  interior  arrangement  it  compares  quite  fav- 
orably with  the  more  modern  buildings  of  Kearney. 

The  Kenwood  school  was  erected  in  1888  at  a  cost  of  $10,000.  It 
is  a  four-room  building  for  the  first  seven  grades.  It  is  heated  with 
hot  air,  and  in  other  particulars  resembles^^the  other  buildings  of 
Kearney  already  described. 

ORD  HIGH  SCHOOL 

This  building  was  erected  in  1892  at  a  cost  of  $13,500.  It  con- 
tains five  graded  schoolrooms,  one  high  school  assembly  room,  two 
recitation  rooms,  a  laboratory  and  an  office.  All  grades  are  repre- 
sented in  the  building  except  the  first  and  second.  It  is  seated 
with  both  single  and  double  desks,  and  provided  with  slate  black- 
boards. It  is  heated  with  hot  air  and  ventilated  with  the  Fuller  & 
Warren  system.  The  cloak  rooms  are  the  wide  halls.  The  light- 
ing is  good. 


m. 


,rf* 


DAVID  CITY  HIGH  vSCHOOL 


PETERSIU'RC;  ITULIC  SCIIOOI, 


FALLS  CITY  HIGH    SCHOOL 


GORDON  PUBLIC  SCHOOL 


SCHOOL  BUILDINGS  AND  GROUNDS  IN  NEBRASKA  183 

FREMONT  HIGH   SCHOOL 

This  building  was  erected  twelve  or  thirteen  years  ago  at  a  cost 
of  $22,000.  It  contains  one  assembly  room,  six  class  rooms  and 
two  offices.  It  is  used  exclusively  for  high  school  purposes.  The 
Smead  system  of  heating  and  ventilating  is  in  use.  The  furniture 
is  good,  the  blackboards  are  of  slate,  and  there  are  cloak  and  toilet 
rooms  in  the  building.  When  erected  it  was  supposed  it  would  be 
ample  in  size  for  many  years  to  come,  but  Fremont  has  already 
outgrown  it. 

HARVARD  HIGH   SCHOOL 

The  Harvard  high  school  is  the  best  schoolhouse  in  Clay  county. 
It  was  erected  in  1894  at  a  cost  of  $12,000.  It  contains  eight  school- 
rooms, one  laboratory  and  one  office,  and  houses  eleven  grades. 
The  blackboards  are  of  the  best  slate,  the  desks  nearly  all  single 
and  the  apparatus  quite  modern.  The  Smead  system  of  heating 
and  ventilating  is  in  use,  and  there  are  cloak  and  toilet  rooms.  The  - 
lighting  is  excellent,  mainly  from  the  left  and  rear  of  the  pupils. 
This  is  said  to  be  one  of  the  best  equipped  and  best  kept  school 
buildings  in  the  state. 

BEATRICE   HIGH    SCHOOL 

The  Central  school  at  Beatrice  includes  the  high  school,  although 
it  also  makes  provision  for  some  of  the  grammar  grades.  It  was 
erected  in  1884  at  a  cost  of  $30,000.  There  are  in  it  ten  school- 
rooms, three  recitation  rooms  and  two  laboratories.  It  is  furnished 
with  single  seats  and  provided  with  slate  blackboards.  It  is  heated 
by  sueam.  All  necessary  apparatus  and  supplies  for  high  school 
purposes  and  grade  work  are  provided. 

CUMING   CITY    SCHOOL   GROUNDS 

We  wish  to  direct  particular  attention  to  these  school  grounds, 
located  about  three  miles  northwest  of  Blair  in  Washington  county. 
The  grounds  are  260  feet  in  width  and  270  feet  in  depth,  and  when 
the  photograph  from  which  our  half-tone  was  reproduced  was  taken 
in  the  early  fall,  the  trees  almost  entirely  obscured  tlie  school- 
house. 


184  SCnCX)L  BUILDINGS  AND  GROUNDS  IN   NEBRASKA 

DISTRICT  SCHOOL   NO.  9,   DODGE   COUNTY 

This  is  a  very  common  type  of  school  building  in  the  eastern  part 
of  Nebraska.  It  was  erected  in  1876  at  a  cost  of  less  than  $1,000. 
There  is  an  entry  way  or  vestibule  used  as  a  cloak  room,  and  the 
room  is  lighted  from  both  sides,  the  east  and  the  west.  It  is  seated 
with  single  desks  and  supplied  with  slate  blackboard,  maps,  charts 
and  a  small  library.  Notice  the  tall  trees  about  the  building  used  as 
a  wind-break,  but  there  is  no  attempt  in  the  way  of  shrubbery  to 
improve  the  appearance  of  the  grounds  and  conceal  the  outhouses. 

AUBURN   WARD  SCHOOLS 

The  little  city  of  Auburn,  the  county  seat  of  Nemaha  county,  in 
southeastern  Nebraska,  has  excellent,  solid  and  substantial  school 
buildings. 

The  Athens  school  was  erected  in  1896  at  a  cost  of  $7,000.  It  is 
a  six-room  building  for  the  grades  below  the  high  school.  Nearly 
all  desks  are  single  ones,  the  blackboards  are  made  of  liquid  slating 
on  plaster  and  charts  and  maps  are  provided.  The  Smead  system 
of  heating  and  ventilation  is  used.  There  are  cloak  rooms,  but  no 
interior  toilet  rooms.  The  rooms  are  lighted  mainly  from  the  left 
and  rear  of  the  pupils,  and  the  interior  of  the  building  in  general  is 
quite  neat  and  convenient  in  arrangement. 

The  Antioch  school  is  an  eight-room  building  erected  at  the  same 
time  as  the  Athens  school  and  cost  perhaps  $1,000  more.  It  is  quite 
similar  in  design,  arrangement  and  furnishing  to  the  Athens  school. 

CRETE  HIGH  SCHOOL 

This  building  was  erected  in  1888  at  a  cost  of  $25,000.  It  con- 
tains one  high  school  assembly  room,  four  recitation  rooms,  six 
graded  schoolrooms,  two  offices  and  three  store  rooms.  All  grades 
above  the  second  are  represented  here.  The  building  is  furnished 
with  single  desks,  slate  blackboard  four  feet  wide  in  all  the  rooms 
except  the  third  and  fourth  grades,  where  it  is  narrower,  and  the 
usual  amount  of  high  school  apparatus,  maps  and  globes.  It  is 
heated  with  steam  and  well  ventilated.  The  building  has  easy 
stairways  and  good  cloak  rooms. 


ST.  EDWARD  PUBLIC  SCHOOL 


HARTINGTON  PUBLIC  SCHOOL 


ELGIN  PUBLIC  SCHOOL 


ALLIANCE  PUBLIC  SCHOOL 


SCHOOL  BUILDINGS  AND  GROUNDS  IN  NEBRASKA  187 

BEATRICE  WARD  SCHOOLS 

The  Fairview  school  of  Beatrice  was  erected  in  189 1  at  a  cost  of 
$7,500.  It  is  a  four-room-  building  for  the  first  seven  grades.  It 
is  furnished  with  single  desks,  slate  blackboard,  maps,  charts,  globes, 
etc.,  and  the  Smead  system  of  heating  and  ventilating  is  in  use, 
but  the  interior  closets  have  been  removed.  There  are  cloak  rooms, 
and  the  schoolrooms  generally  are  lighted  from  the  left  and  rear. 

The  South  school  was  erected  in  1886  at  a  cost  of  $8,000.  It  con- 
tains six  rooms  for  the  first  seven  grades,  and  is  furnished  with 
maps,  charts,  globes,  etc.,  but  the  blackboards  are  of  cloth.  In  other 
respects  it  is  similar  to  the  Fairview  school. 

.  The  East  school  was  erected  in  1888  at  a  cost  of  $10,000.  It  con- 
tains seven  rooms  for  all  the  grades  below  the  high  school  except 
the  seventh.  In  all  essential  particulars  it  resembles  the  South 
school. 

RED  CLOUD   HIGH    SCHOOL 

The  Red  Cloud  high  school  was  erected  in  1882  at  a  cost  of  $10,- 
000.  It  contains  an  assembly  room,  recitation  room,  a  library  and 
an  office  and  three  graded  schoolrooms.  All  grades  above  the  sec- 
ond are  represented  in  the  building.  The  blackboards  are  of  plaster 
or  of  cloth,  and  the  building  is  heated  with  stoves.  There  are  chim- 
ney flues  for  the  exit  of  foul  air.  Some  high  school  apparatus  is 
provided,  but  the  building  is  without  cloak  rooms  or  toilet  rooms. 

MADISON    HIGH   SCHOOL 

This  building  was  erected  two  years  ago  at  a  cost  of  $15,000,  in- 
cluding the  steam  heating  plant.  It  contains  a  high  school  assembly 
room,  recitation  room,  laboratory,  li1)rary,  store  room  and  six  grade 
rooms.  It  is  furnished  with  single  desks,  slate  blackboard,  some 
laboratory  apparatus  and  a  liberal  supply  of  organs,  pictures,  etc. 
The  building  is  properly  lighted  and  ventilated. 

ASHLAND   HIGH   SCHOOL 

The  original  part  of  this  l)ui!ding  was  erected  in  1871  and  an  ad- 
dition thereto  in  1887  at  a  total  cost  of  $16,000.  It  is  an  clcvcn- 
room  building  and  contains  all  grades.  There  are  both  singk^  and 
double  desks  and  slate  blackboard.  It  is  heated  with  steam  and 
provided  with  outlets  for  foul  air  near  the  ceiling.     There  are  cloak 


loo  SCHOOL  BUILDINGS  AND  GROUNDS  IN  NEBRASKA 

rooms  but  no  toilet  rooms  in  the  building.     The  rooms  are  lighted 
mainly  from  the  left  and  rear. 

PONCA    PUBLIC   SCHOOL 

This  excellent  school  building  in  northeastern  Nebraska  was 
erected  three  years  ago  at  a  cost  of  about  $18,000.  It  contains  ten 
schoolrooms,  an  office  and  a  library,  and  has  also  two  large  hall- 
ways. All  grades  are  here  represented.  The  desks  are  modern 
single  ones,  though  some  double  desks  are  still  in  use,  and  the  black- 
board is  of  plaster  composition.  It  is  heated  with  steam  and  venti- 
lated by  means  of  a  fan  in  the  basement.  It  contains  both  cloak  and 
toilet  rooms.  The  lighting  is  from  the  left  of  the  pupils.  In  its 
system  of  heating,  ventilation  and  lighting,  its  broad  stairways  and 
large,  airy,  well-lighted  hallways,  this  building  compares  favorably 
with  any  in  the  state. 

COLUMBUS  HIGH  SCHOOL 

The  new  Columbus  high  school  was  erected  nearly  four  years  ago 
at  a  cost  of  $27,000.  It  contains  a  high  school  assembly  room, 
three  recitation  rooms,  three  laboratories,  an  office  and  a  library 
and  three  graded  schoolrooms.  The  desks  are  single,  and  those  in 
the  high  school  are  adjustable  with  revolving  seats.  The  black- 
board is  of  slate  and  the  apparatus  all  quite  modern.  The  system  of 
heating  and  ventilating  is  similar  to  the  Smead  system.  The  hall- 
ways are  divided  for  cloak  rooms  and  there  are  toilet  rooms  in  the 
basement.  The  rooms  are  in  the  main  lighted  from  the  left  or  left 
and  rear.  The  building  contains  ample  hall  space,  excellent  arrange- 
ment, abundant  light,  high  ceilings  and  tinted  walls. 

WAKEFIELD  HIGH  SCHOOL 

This  building  was  erected  three  years  ago  at  a  cost  of  $15,000. 
It  is  of  pressed  brick  and  contains  six  schoolrooms,  one  laboratory 
and  one  assembly  room,  and  houses  all  of  the  grades  from  the  first 
through  the  eleventh.  The  blackboards  are  of  slate  and  the  furni- 
ture and  apparatus  fairly  good.  The  building  is  heated  with  steam 
and  ventilated.  There  are  cloak  rooms,  but  no  interior  toilet  rooms. 
The  schoolrooms  are  lighted  from  the  left  and  rear.  The  building 
has  wide  halls,  easy  stairways  and  conveniences  of  interior 
arrangement. 


A 


DISTRICT  SCHOOL  No.  38,  SARPY  COUNTY 
The  last  log  schoolhouse  in  eastern  Nebraska,  removed  in  1901 


GRAND  ISLAND  HIGH  SCHOOL 


SCHOOL  BUILDINGS  AND  GROUNDS  IN  NEBRASKA  IQI 

HASTINGS  HIGH  SCHOOL 

This  building  was  erected  in  1889  at  a  cost  of  $20,000.  It  con- 
tains ten  rooms  and  accommodates  all  the  grades  from  the  first 
through  the  twelfth.  It  is  furnished  with  single  desks,  recitation 
chairs,  several  kinds  of  blackboard  and  the  ordinary  amount  of  ap- 
paratus for  instruction  in  the  sciences.  The  building  is  heated  with 
steam  and  provided  with  cloak  and  toilet  rooms,  but  there  is  no 
complete  system  of  ventilation.  The  lighting  is  mainly  from  the 
left  and  rear. 

LOUP  CITY  PUBLIC  SCHOOL 

This  building  was  erected  in  1899  ^^  ^  ^o^t  of  $10,000.  It  con- 
tains six  schoolrooms  and  one  recitation  room  for  the  accommoda- 
tion of  the  ten  grades.  The  furniture  is  mostly  of  the  old-fashioned 
folding-desk  variety,  the  blackboards  are  of  hard  finish  plaster,  and 
the  apparatus  includes  wall  maps,  charts,  etc.  The  building  is 
heated  with  steam  and  ventilated.  There  are  open  cloak  rooms  in 
the  hallways,  but  there  are  no  toilet  rooms  in  the  building.  One- 
half  of  the  rooms  are  lighted  from  the  left  and  rear,  the  other  half 
from  the  right  and  rear  of  the  pupils. 

MINDEN    HIGH   SCHOOL 

This  building  was  erected  three  years  ago.  It  contains  an  assem^ 
bly  room,  fotir  recitation  rooms,  two  laboratories  and  three  graded 
schoolrooms,  the  latter  for  the  accommodation  of  the  fourth,  fifth 
and  sixth  grades.  It  contains  good  furniture  and  apparatus  and 
slate  blackboard,  and  the  building  is  heated  with  steam,  but  is  not 
ventilated.  There  are  cloak  rooms  but  no  toilet  rooms  in  the  build- 
ing.   The  rooms  generally  are  lighted  from  the  left  and  rear. 

GRANT  SCHOOL,  NORFOLK 

The  main  part  of  this  building  was  erected  in  1886  and  an  annex 
in  1898  at  a  total  cost  of  $13,000.  There  are  six  schoolrooms  and 
one  office,  the  former  for  the  accommodation  of  the  primary  and  the 
fifth  grades.  There  are  both  single  and  double  desks  in  the  building, 
natural  slate  and  plaster  composition  blackboards  and  some  ap- 
paratus. The  building  is  heated  with  hot  air  and  ventilated.  There 
are  cloak  rooms  in  the  building  but  no  toilet  rooms.  In  general, 
the  rooms  are  lighted  from  the  left  and  rear.  The  rooms  are  all 
large  and  well  lighted,  but  in  the  older  portion  they  arc  poorly 
ventilated  and  not  very  well  heated. 


192  SCHOOL  BUILDINGS  AND  GROUNDS  IN   NEBRASKA 

NORFOLK   HIGH   SCHOOL 

This  building  was  erected  in  1890  at  a  cost  of  $29,000.  It  con- 
tains an  assembly  room,  three  laboratory  and  recitation  rooms,  three 
office  and  library  rooms  and  six  schoolrooms.  The  desks  are  single, 
the  blackboards  of  plaster  composition  and  the  apparatus  and  equip- 
ment very  good.  The  building  is  heated  with  hot  air  by  the  Smead 
system  and  ventilated.  It  contains  both  cloak  and  toilet  rooms. 
The  schoolrooms  are  lighted  chiefly  from  the  left  and  rear.  The 
building  contains  commodious  hallways,  stairways,  good  ventilation, 
but  not  the  best  of  heating.  The  general  arrangements  are  quite 
convenient. 

AUBURN    HIGH    SCHOOL 

This  building  was  erected  in  1886  at  a  cost  of  $8,000.  It  is  used 
exclusively  for  the  high  school  grades  and  contains  two  assembly 
rooms,  a  class  room,  laboratory,  office  and  book  room.  It  is  pro- 
vided with  single  seats,  liquid  slating  blackboards,  maps  and  charts 
and  apparatus  for  physics  and  chemistry.  The  Smead  system  of 
hot  air  is  used  for  heating  with  ventilation.  There  are  cloak  rooms 
but  no  toilet  rooms  in  the  building.  The  rooms  are  lighted  mainly 
from  the  left  and  rear.  It  is  a  neat  and  convenient  building  in  all 
respects. 

ST.  EDWARD  PUBLIC  SCHOOL 

This  building  was  erected  in  1895  at  a  cost  of  $5,600'.  It  con- 
tains four  good  schoolrooms  for  the  accommodation  of  all  the 
grades.  The  desks  are  mainly  the  old  folding  ones,  though  single, 
the  blackboards  are  of  slate  and  the  apparatus  insufficient.  The 
building  is  heated  with  stoves,  and  ventilated  by  means  of  windows, 
transoms  and  doors.  There  are  cloak  rooms  but  no  interior  toilet 
rooms.    All  the  rooms  are  lighted  from  the  left  and  rear. 

HARTINGTON  PUBLIC  SCHOOL 

This  building  was  erected  in  1896  at  a  cost  of  $12,000.  It  con- 
tains one  laboratory  and  seven  schoolrooms  for  the  accommoda- 
tion of  all  the  grades  from  the  first  through  the  twelfth.  The 
blackboards  are  of  slate,  and  the  building  is  heated  with  steam  and 
ventilated.  There  are  cloak  rooms  but  no  interior  toilet  rooms. 
The  rooms  are  lighted  from  the  left  and  rear. 


/ 


^/ 


DISTRICT   SCHOOL  No.  54,  I'KRKINS  COUNTY 
Front  View 


DISTRICT  SCHOOL  No.  :A,  I'KRKINS  COI'NTV 
Side  \'ie\v 


vSUD  vSCHUOLHOlSE,  DUNDY  COUNTY 


DISTRICT  SCHOOL  No.  83,  CHERP.Y  COUNTY 


SCHOOL  BUILDINGS  AND  GROUNDS  IN  NEBRASKA  I95 

ELGIN   PUBLIC  SCHOOL 

This  building  was  erected  in  1891  at  a  cost  of  $3,500.  It  is  not 
in  g-ood  repair  and  is  difficult  to  heat  and  ventilate,  but  Elgin  ex- 
pects to  erect  a  new  school  building  soon. 

ALLIANCE  HIGH   SCHOOL 

The  older  part  of  this  building  was  erected  in  1889  and  an  addi- 
tion in  1899  ^t  a  total  cost  of  $15,000.  It  contains  nineteen  rooms 
for  the  accommodation  of  all  the  grades  from  the  first  through  the 
twelfth,  including  schoolrooms,  recitation  rooms,  offices,  labora- 
tories, library,  boiler  room  and  lunch  room.  Natural  slate  and 
hyloplate  blackboards  are  in  use.  The  building  is  heated  with 
steam  and  ventilated.  There  are  cloak  rooms,  but  the  toilet  rooms 
are  outside. 

LOG  SCHOOLHOUSE  IN   DISTRICT   NO.   38,   SARPY   COUNTY 

This  schoolhouse  was  demolished  last  year  and  its  logs  have  been 
used  during  the  past  winter  to  heat  the  new  frame  building  that  has 
taken  its  place.  This  was  probably  the  last  log  schoolhouse  in  the 
eastern  part  of  Nebraska.  It  stood  in  a  beautiful  grove  on  Belle- 
vue  Island,  only  twelve  miles  from  the  business  center  of  Omaha. 
The  building  was  erected  about  thirty  years  ago  and  was  used  during 
the  last  sixteen  years  of  its  existence  as  a  schoolhouse.  It  measured 
only  sixteen  by  eighteen  feet,  with  a  six-foot  ceiling.  It  contained 
twenty  double  desks  and  was  lighted  by  means  of  three  windows. 
An  old-fashioned  wood-burning  stove,  red  with  rust,  furnished  the 
heat,  and  the  chinks  between  the  logs  where  the  plaster  had  fallen 
off  provided  plenty  of  ventilation.  It  has  long  been  a  question 
whether  part  of  the  land  comprising  school  district  No.  38  of  Sarpy 
county  was  in  Iowa  or  Nebraska,  and  on  account  of  this  uncertainty 
it  was  difficult  to  vote  bonds  for  a  new  schoolhouse,  but  finally  $800 
was  raised  in  this  way,  and  the  same  has  been  used  in  the  con- 
struction of  the  new  frame  building. 

GRAND   ISLAND    HIGH    SCHOOL 

The  original  part  of  this  building,  known  as  the  Dodge  building, 

was  erected  in  1878  at  a  cost  of  $30,000;  an  addition  in  1885  cost 
$9,000,  and  another  addition  in  1889,  $11,000.    The  complete  build- 


196  SCHOOL  BUILDINGS  AND  GROUNDS  IN  NEBRASKA 

ing  contains  twenty-one  rooms,  including  all  necessary  schoolrooms 
and  recitation  rooms  for  the  accommodation  of  all  grades  from  the 
first  through  the  twelfth.  It  contains  both  kinds  of  desks  and  slate 
blackboards.  The  apparatus  is  of  the  best,  and  there  is  a  very 
complete  reference  library  for  the  benefit  of  the  high  school.  The 
building  is  properly  heated  with  steam,  but  is  not  ventilated.  There 
are  cloak  rooms  in  the  building,  but  no  toilet  rooms.  The  school- 
rooms are  lighted  mainly  from  the  left  and  rear. 

DISTRICT  SCHOOL  NO.  54,  PERKINS  COUNTY 

This  old  sod  schoolhouse  which  the  author  had  the  pleasure  of 
examining  last  summer  was  erected  about  the  year  1888  at  a  cost 
approximately  of  $100.  It  contains  two  rooms,  only  one  of  which 
is  habitable.  There  are  in  the  building  good  double  desks,  a  recita- 
tion bench,  slate  blackboards,  and  fully  $200  worth  of  apparatus, 
including  maps,  charts  and  arithmetical  blocks  in  abundance.  There 
is  one  stove,  with  accidental  and  incidental  ventilation,  assisted  by 
the  cattle.  The  building  does  not  belong  to  the  district,  but  was 
borrowed  by  it  for  school  purposes  with  the  understanding  that  the 
district  was  to  keep  it  in  repair  for  the  use  of  it  without  rent.  A 
new  schoolhouse  has  been  or  soon  will  be  erected  in  the  district. 
The  side  view  shows  a  shed  where  the  teacher  and  some  of  the 
pupils  stable  their  horses  during  the  school  day. 

SOD  SCHOOLHOUSE,  DUNDY  COUNTY 

This  is  the  picture  of  a  sod  schoolhouse  formerly  used  in  district 
No.  9  of  Dundy  county,  but  it  was  replaced  about  three  years  ago 
by  a  nice  frame  building.  The  photograph  was  taken  seven  or 
eight  years  ago.  The  building  was  erected  in  1888  at  a  cost  of 
about  $125.  The  furniture  It  contained  was  all  home-made  except 
the  teacher's  chair.  It  was  furnished  with  a  bit  of  slate  blackboard 
which  cost  forty  cents  per  square  foot.  The  pupils  face  the  door, 
with  two  windows  on  each  side  and  no  opening  in  the  rear.  The 
building  was,  naturally  enough,  warm  in  the  winter  time  and  cool 
in  the  summer.  It  was  almost  impossible  to  hear  any  noise  from 
the  outside.  It  was  plastered  with  native  lime  (soft  magnesia  rock) 
which  pulverizes  easily  after  being  soaked  in  water  a  few  days.  No 
studding  or  lath  were  used,  as  the  plaster  sticks  readily  to  the  sod 


DISTRICT  SCHOOL   No.  30,  HITCHCOCK  COUNTY 


DISTRICT  SCHOOL  No.  Ti,  FRONTIER  COUNTY 


DISTRICT  SCHOOL  No.  11,  KEITH   COUNTY 


THE  LOOKOUT  SCHOOL,  DISTRICT  No.  26,  LOUP  COUNTY 


SCHOOL  BUILDINGS  AND  GROUNDS  IN  NEBRASKA  I99 

walls.  The  greater  portion  of  the  plastering  was  done  during  inter- 
missions by  the  pupils,  who  were  thus  receiving  their  first  lessons  in 
clay  modeling. 

DISTRICT  SCHOOL  NO.  83,  CHERRY  COUNTY 

This  sod  schoolhouse  was  erected  in  the  fall  of  1901  at  a  cost  to 
the  district  of  $37.85,  as  the  work  and  a  part  of  the  material  were 
contributed  by  the  patrons.  The  actual  cost  of  such  a  building 
would  be  about  $100.  The  furniture  it  contains  is  entirely  home- 
made, the  blackboards  are  painted  boards,  there  is  no  apparatus, 
and  the  schoolhouse  is  heated  with  a  stove  and  "native  fuel."  The 
district  has  never  had  to  exceed  six  months  of  school  during  a 
year,  and  last  year,  on  account- of  their  inability  to  secure  a  teacl.w.^ 
in  time,  they  were  unable  to  have  more  than  three  months. 

DISTRICT  SCHOOL  NO.   30,   HITCHCOCK  COUNTY 

This  school  district  has  been  discontinued,  and  the  building  is 
now  used  as  a  church  and  is  known  as  "The  Old  Sod  Church." 

DISTRICT  SCHOOL   NO.   73,   FRONTIER   COUNTY 

This  building  was  erected  about  twelve  years  ago  at  a  cost  of 
$100.  It  was  replaced  last  year  by  a  good  frame  schoolhouse.  It 
was  a  long,  low  building,  devoid  of  beauty,  though  not  uncomfort- 
able, and  is  a  type  of  many  of  the  schoolhouses  that  existed  in  west- 
ern Nebraska  several  years  ago,  but  it  is  not  characteristic  of  the 
more  modern  schoolhouses  now  in  that  part  of  the  state.  It  con- 
tained patent  furniture,  the  blackboards  were  of  matched  lumber 
painted  black,  and  there  were  windows  on  both  sides  opposite  each 
other.  The  children  in  the  illustration  are  typical  young  Nebras- 
kans  that  are  determined  to  maintain  for  their  state  the  lowest  per- 
centage of  illiteracy  in  the  Union,  whether  in  order  to  do  so  they 
must  acquire  their  education  in  a  sod  house,  a  log  house  or  a  pressed 
brick  building, 

DISTRICT  SCHOOL    NO.   44,    KEITH    COUNTY 

This  view  shows  the  south  side  of  a  sod  schoolhouse  with  shingled 
roof.  Like  most  of  the  sod  houses,  the  ceiling  is  low.  The  room 
contains  patent  desks  and  about  two  square  yards  of  slate  black- 


2O0  SCHOOL  BUILDINGS  AND  GROUNDS  IN   NEBRASKA 

board.  There  is  an  old  reading  chart  and  a  small  dictionary  in  the 
school.  There  are  two  windows  on  each  side,  the  north  and  the 
south,  and  a  door  in  the  east.  The  illustration  shows  some  broken 
window  glass. 

LOOKOUT  SCHOOL,    LOUP    COUNTY 

This  sod  house  is  located  in  district  No.  26,  in  a  county  without 
a  mile  of  railroad.  A  wooden  blackboard  is  exhibited  to  the  left 
of  the  children.  The  low  roof  and  lower  door  may  be  seen  in  the 
illustration,  and  the  bright  looking  children  are  typical  of  the 
prairies  and  ranges  of  central  and  western  Nebraska. 

DISTRICT  SCHOOL    NO.    I,    HALL   COUNTY 

This  school  district  is  almost  unique  in  Nebraska  in  that  in  addi- 
tion to  a  fine  brick  schoolhouse  with  porches  and  architectural  orna- 
mentation (see  illustration)  it  provides  a  residence  and  garden  for 
the  use  of  the  teacher. 

The  first  school  ever  established  in  Hall  county  was  a  private 
school  in  1864,  with  only  icur  children  attending:  Frederick  Stolley, 
Wilhelm  Stelk,  Christian  Gottsche  and  Lina  Schoel.  The  teacher, 
Theodore  Nagel,  received  his  pay  in  work  performed  by  the  parents 
of  the  children  on  the  teacher's  farm  while  he  was  teaching  the 
children.  Christian  Gottsche,  when  sixteen  years  old,  was  killed 
by  the  Indians  while  out  hunting  on  the  Loup  river. 

An  attempt  at  organizing  a  school  district  under  the  laws  of  the 
state  was  first  made  in  the  year  1868.  The  district  embraced  all 
the  territory  of  the  present  school  districts  Nos.  i  and  74,  and  con- 
siderable of  the  Grand  Island  school  district,  No.  2.  All  measures 
taken  at  that  time  were  irregular  and  bungling  and  subsequently 
proved  to  he  illegal,  and  much  contention  prevailed  for  several 
years  on  account  of  the  high-handed  and  unlawful  proceedings  of 
those  who  claimed  to  be  in  authority.  The  party  acting  for  the 
time  being  as  director  was  also  the  teacher  of  the  district  school, 
and  reports  on  one  of  the  sheets  of  his  record  that,  in  the  capacity 
of  director,  he  inspected  his  own  school  three  times  that  year.  Taxes 
for  school  purposes  were  levied  in  the  following  manner,  as  for 
example :  > 

I.  Every  voter  in  the  school  district  shall  pay  $2.00  into  the 
school  fund. 


I 


DISTRICT  SCHOOL  No.  1,  HALL  COUNTY 


CACHER'S  RESIDENCE,  PROPERTY  OI-   DISTRICT  No.  1,  II.\LL  COUNTY 


DISTRICT  SCHOOL  No.  3,  FILLMORE  COUNTY 
This  buildins;  was  destroyed  to  make  room  for — 


The  New  School  Building  in 
DISTRICT  No.  3,  FILLMORE  COUNTY 


BRADY  PUBLIC  vSCHOOL  AT  FOUR  O  CLOCK 


GENEVA  HIGH  SCHOOL 


PRAIRIE  OUEEX  SCHOOL,  DISTRICT  No.  33,  SARPY  COUNTY 


'Si25Zf?SS 


PAPILLIOX  PUBLIC  SCHOOL 


SCHOOL  BUILDINGS  AND  GROUNDS  IN  NEBRASKA  •  21 5 

OLD   SOD    SCHOOLHOUSE    IN    SOUTHWESTERN    NEBRASKA 

The  photograph  from  which  this  illustration  is  made  was  taken 
several  years  ago.  The  building  is  located  north  of  McCook,  and 
was  probably  intended  for  other  than  school  purposes.  The  photo- 
graph was  presented  to  Mrs.  Nettleton  while  she  was  county 
superintendent  there,  and  is  highly  prized.  Notice  the  bright  faces 
and  tidy  appearance  of  the  children,  and  also  the  weeds  and  sun- 
flower stalks  that  have  grown  on  the  sod  roof  of  the  schoolhouse. 

DISTRICT  SCHOOL   NO.    l6,   KEITH    COUNTY 

This  old  sod  schoolhouse  was  constructed  in  the  fall  of  1886,  and 
torn  down  some  time  ago.  It  contained  patent  desks  and  slate 
blackboards,  and  was  well  supplied  with  modern  apparatus.'  It  was 
lighted  by  means  of  two  windows  in  each  side. 

RURAL   DISTRICT   SCHOOL,    LINCOLN    COUNTY 

This  old  stone  schoolhouse  was  destroyed  several  years  ago  on 
account  of  a  change  of  site,  and  a  frame  building  was  constructed 
on  the  new  schoolhouse  site,  but  the  illustration  will  serve  to  show 
one  of  the  types  of  schoolhouses  in  Nebraska,  though  there  are  few 
of  this  class.  The  material  of  the  building  is  native  limestone, 
taken  from  the  hills  south  of  North  Platte.  As  the  rocks  are  soft, 
to  save  time  and  trouble  in  cutting  them  the  usual  method  is  to 
make  a  concrete,  and  after  the  wall  is  built,  plaster  it  on  the  outside 
and  mark  off  squares  in  imitation  of  marble  or  granite  blocks. 

DISTRICT   SCHOOL   NO.   4I,   DAWES   COUNTY 

This  log  schoolhouse  was  constructed  in  1888  at  a  cost  of  $50. 
It  is  made  of  hewn  logs  with  sod  roof.  There  are  two  windows  in 
each  side.  The  desks  are  home-made,  the  blackboards  are  painted 
boards  and  the  building  also  contains  one  set  of  charts  and  a  wood 
stove. 

A   BALED  STRAW  SCHOOLHOUSE 

Some  five  or  six  years  ago  in  district  No.  5  of  Scott's  Rluff 
county  there  was  erected  a  temple  of  learning,  the  walls  of  which 
were  of  baled  straw,  the  floor  was  the  primitive  mother  earth  and 
the  roof  above  presented  a  face  of  earth  to  the  heavens.  This  roof 
was  made  of  poles  laid  across  from  side  to  side  and  covered  with 
sod.     The  building  was  sixteen  feet  long,  twelve  feet  wide,  and 


2l6  SCHOOL  BUILDINGS  AND  GROUNDS  IN  NEBRASKA 

seven  feet  liigh.  There  was  a  window  in  each  side  and  a  door  in 
one  end.  The  bales  of  straw  were  laid  in  mud  instead  of  mortar,  and 
with  some  half  bales  the  joints  were  broken  the  same  way  that 
bricks  are  laid.  The  school  board  at  that  time  consisted  of  Mr. 
James  Baxter,  Air.  W.  S.  Fleming  and  Mrs.  Fulton,  all  of  Mina- 
tare.  The  gentlemen  performed  most  of  the  labor  of  construction. 
The  building  was  used  but  two  years  as  a  schoolhouse.  The  state 
superintendent  has  endeavored  to  obtain  a  photograph  of  the  build- 
ing but  he  cannot  find  that  one  was  ever  taken.  Like  the  temple  of 
ancient  Jerusalem,  of  that  schoolhouse  there  is  not  left  one  stone 
(or  bale  of  straw)  upon  another,  as  the  cattle  were  allowed  to 
range  around  it.  A  frame  schoolhouse  now  occupies  the  site.  We 
are  indebted  to  Mr.  James  Baxter  of  Minatare  and  to  Mr.  A.  E. 
Whiteis  of  Gering  for  much  of  this  information. 


GRKTNA  ]'U11I.IC   vSCIlooI 


LONG  I'lM'.  I'UIUJC  vSClIUOL 


I\:ODEL  ONE-ROOM  SCHOOL 
American  School  Board  Join  nal,  June,  190] 


ULj  t^:  ^'^sfflx^- 


MIDDLESEX,  N.  Y.,  PUBLIC  SCHOOL 
American  School  Board  Journal,  October,  1901 


SCHOOL  BUILDINGS  AND  GROUNDS  IN   NEBRASKA  2ig 


Extracts  from  an  Address 

By  Dr.  W.  T.  Harris,  U.  S.  Commissioner  of  Education,  Wash- 
ington, D.  C,  ON  "The  Danger  of  Using  Biological  Anal- 
ogies IN  Reasoning  on  Educational  Subjects,"  delivered  at 
the  annual  meeting  of  the  Department  of  Superintend- 
ence OF  the  N.  E.  a.,  at  Chicago,  February  26,  1902. 

The  schoolhouse,  at  first,  was  only  a  slight  modification  on  the 
dwelling-house.  There  was  light  and  ventilation  sufficient  for  two, 
three  or  four  persons  in  the  room.  The  dark  parts  of  the  room 
were  light  enough  for  many  purposes  of  housework,  and  if  one 
wished  to  read  or  to  sew  or  perform  the  work  of  cleansmg  or 
.separating  such  articles  of  food  as  had  been  ground  and  needed 
feifting,  or  as  were  composed  of  small  grains  or  kernels  and  needed 
picking  over,  a  seat  near  the  window  secured  the  requisite  light. 

But  the  school  needed  a  room  lighted  in  all  parts,  as  nearly 
equal  as  possible  and  with  a  constant  supply  of  fresh  air,  heated 
properly.  It  was  gradually  discovered  that  the  room  of  the  dwell- 
ing-house was  poorly  adapted  for  school  purposes.  Some  pupils 
got  too  little  light  and  became  near-sighted  by  holding  their  books 
too  close  to  their  eyes ;  some  came  to  have  weak  eyes  by  having  too 
much  light.  For  the  glare  of  a  page  on  which  the  sunlight  falls 
is  sufficient  to  produce  partial  blindness.  Even  pure  skylight, 
without  the  direct  rays  of  the  sun,  will  tend  to  do  this.  Many  have 
been  the  so-called  improvements  which  in  correcting  the  evil  of 
insufficient  light  ignored  entirely  the  great  injury  done  to  those 
pupils  who  sat  in  the  full  glare  of  the  sun  or  of  the  clear  sky,  and 
for  hours  each  day  tried  their  eyes  on  perceiving  letters  and  figures 
in  small  print.  I  need  not  speak  here  of  the  various  attempts  to 
light  the  room  from  the  front  of  the  pupil,  forcing  him  to  strain 
his  eyes  in  order  to  make  out  the  words  of  the  page  when  seen  in 
the  direction  of  the  source  of  light;  the  experiment  of  lighting 
from  two  sides,  the  left  and  the  right  sides  with  its  attendant  im- 
possibility of  getting  the  light  upon  the  book  from  either  side  with- 
out at  the  same  time  facing  the  light  of  the  other  side.  The  light 
was  tried  from  the  right  side  alone,  and  the  pupil  had  to  have  the 
shadow  of  his  hand  on  the  place  where  he  was  writing.     Light  from 


220  SCHOOL  BUILDINGS  AND  GROUNDS  IN   NEBRASKA 

the  left  and  rear  came  at  last  to  be  adopted  with  much  unanimity 
by  educational  experts  in  this  country  in  1876.  But  the  tendency 
to  make  large  buildings  has  since  that  time  permitted  and  encour- 
aged the  construction  of  schoolhouses  with  one-half  of  the  rooms 
lighted  from  one  side  only ;  this,  too,  without  due  consideration  of 
the  relation  between  the  height  of  the  tops  of  the  windows  and 
the  width  of  the  room.  The  consequence  of  this  is  that  most  of  our 
cities  have  schoolrooms  in  which  there  is  a  row  of  desks  where 
pupils  sit  in  a  twilight  and  acquire  the  habit  of  holding  their  books 
too  near  the  eyes ;  and  another  row  of  desks  where  the  pupils  have 
the  glare  of  light  that  I  have  described,  and  the  effort  of  nature  to 
adjust  the  retina  to  the  overplus  of  light  dims  the  power  of  vision 
below  the  normal  standard. 

In  the  schoolroom  of  a  building  altered  over  from  a  dwelling- 
house,  there  is  also  another  attendant  evil.  The  pupils  in  a  row  of 
seats  placed  directly  under  the  windows  are  exposed,  in  cold 
weather,  to  chilling  currents  of  air  which  are  constantly  flowing 
down  the  sides  of  the  wall  and  especially  down  the  window  surface. 
Children  not  of  robust  constitution  often  lay  the  foundation  of  much 
bodily  disease  in  this  way.  Improper  lighting,  by  reason  of  the 
sympathy  of  the  eyes  with  the  stomach,  produces  in  pupils  of  deli- 
cate constitution  a  tendency  to  nervous  dyspepsia.  Indeed,  the 
errors  in  lighting  and  in  avoiding  draughts  of  cold  air  seem  to  me 
so  serious  that  I  cannot  listen  patiently  to  those  who  praise  the 
countless  devices  which  are  invented  for  one  and  another  trifling 
advantage  in  the  hygiene  of  the  schoolroom.  For  it  were  better 
that  they  had  not  been  discovered  than  to  distract,  as  they  do,  the 
attention  from  the  far  weightier  matters  of  light  and  temperature 
and  ventilation. 

One  idea  crowds  out  another  in  some  cases,  although  in  other 
cases  one  idea  leads  to  or  brings  in  another.  The  general  idea 
suggests  its  applications.  But  the  particular  idea  having  small 
scope  may  get  in  the  way  of  more  fruitful  ideas.  We  have  to  meas- 
ure ideas  as  to  their  relative  value  and  decide  for  ourselves  which 
may  properly  give  way  to  the  other.  For  example,  take  the  unhy- 
gienic school  as  it  existed  and  now  exists  in  the  countries  that  are 
backward  in  this  matter  of  school  architecture,  and  we  must  admit 
that  the  great  purposes  of  the  school  were  secured  and  are  secured 
in  the  log  schoolhouses,  in  the  dark,  ill-ventilated  tenement  building 


HUMBOLDT  PUBLIC  SCHOOL 


um 


f. 


it 


CRAWFORD  PUm.IC  SCHOOI, 


x^  .^^.ivPING  WATER  PUBLIC  SCHOOL 


SCHOOL  BUILDINGS  AND  GROUNDS  IN  NEBRASKA  203 

2.  On  every  forty  acres  of  land  claimed  or  owned  by  any  settler, 
he  shall  pay  $1.50  into  the  school  fund. 

3.  On  every  $100  assessed  valuation  of  personal  property,  one- 
fourth  per  cent  shall  be  paid. 

A  schoolhouse  of  the  value  of  $250  (14X  18  feet)  was  built,  but 
the  teacher  received  very  little  cash  and  had  to  take  school  orders 
for  his  pay  and  sell  them  at  a  discount.  Matters  changed  some- 
what in  the  summer  of  1870,  when  a  second  schoolhouse  was  built 
and  the  district  was  divided  into  two  sub-districts,  "west"  and 
"east."  It  was  not,  however,  until  April,  1872,  when  Wm.  Stolley 
was  elected  director  of  district  No.  i,  that  radical  changes  took 
place.  At  that  time  two  teachers  were  employed  for  nine  months 
each  at  $40  per  month.  Gradually  matters  improved,  and  in  the 
years  1884,  1885  and  1886  school  district  taxes  were  levied  for 
the  purpose  of  building  two  substantial  brick  schoolhouses,  one 
for  each  sub-district.  This  plan  was  carried  out,  and  on  September 
I,  1886,  both  brick  schoolhouses,  as  they  are  now  in  evidence,  were 
accepted  by  the  school  board  at  a  cost  of  $4,515.07.  Soon  after 
this,  school  district  No.  i  was  divided  into  two  districts :  the  west 
end  sub-district  to  be  known  as  district  No.  i,  and  the  east  end 
sub-district  as  district  No.  74  (see  illustration  of  this  schoolhouse). 

At  the  annual  school  meeting  in  1893,  the  sum  of  $1,200  was 
voted  for  the  building  of  a  teacher's  residence  and  suitable  out- 
buildings, and  a  tax  of  ten  mills  was  levied  for  that  purpose.  In 
August,  1893,  an  additional  acre  of  land  adjoining  the  schoolhouse 
grounds  on  the  east  was  bought  for  the  location  of  the  teacher's 
"home,"  and  although  much  opposed  by  some  tax  payers,  on  the 
15th  day  of  May,  1894,  the  contract  for  the  construction  of  the 
teacher's  residence  was  let  for  the  sum  of  $1,000  in  gold.  The 
house  was  completed  and  turned  over  to  the  district  on  July  19, 
1894.  The  teacher's  house  is  22x28  feet  and  14  feet  in  height, 
with  an  addition  to  the  west  of  12  x  16  feet  and  10  feet  high.  The 
house  has  double  windows  for  winter  and  window  screens  for 
summer. 

Up  to  the  year  1880  inclusive  the  district  paid  the  teacher  $40  per 
month;  in  1881  they  paid  $45  per  month  (9  months)  ;  in  1882,  $50 
per  month  (9  months)  ;  in  1883,  $55  per  month  (9  months)  ;  and 
for  the  years  1884  to  1901  inclusive,  the  district  paid  $60  per  month 
(9  months),  and  of  late  years  provided  the  free  use  of  the  teach- 


204  SCHOOL  BUILDINGS  AND  GROUNDS  IN  NEBRASICA 

er's  residence,  out-buildings,  and  one-half  acre  of  ground  for  a 
garden.  The  district  also  voted  funds  for  the  additional  purchase 
of  suitable  pasture  land  for  the  keeping  of  a  milch  cow  and  family- 
horse  ;  but  so  far  the  school  board  has  not  taken  any  action  on  this 
last  departure. 

For  much  of  this  information  the  state  superintendent  is  in- 
debted to  Mr.  Wm.  Stolley,  director. 

DISTRICT   SCHOOL   NO.    3,    FILLMORE   COUNTY 

Until  the  summer  of  1901  this  school  district  used  a  frame  build- 
ing which  was  as  good  as  the  average  in  many  parts  of  Nebraska 
and  better  than  the  average  in  some  places.  At  that  time,  however, 
the  frame  house  was  torn  down  and  much  of  its  material  was 
utilized  in  the  construction  of  a  new  and  vastly  better  school  build- 
ing, made  of  brick.  The  old  and  the  new  buildings  are  both  illus- 
trated on  the  same  page.  The  new  building  cost  about  $1,200,  and 
instead  of  issuing  bonds,  a  building  fund  was  levied  beginning  two 
years  before.  The  district  thought  it  better  to  provide  the  neces- 
sary funds  during  the  two  years  previous  to  the  construction  of 
the  schoolhouse  rather  than  during  the  five  or  ten  years  following 
its  completion.    They  saved  interest  and  some  trouble. 

This  new  schoolhouse  is  the  best  one  in  Fillmore  county,  and  is 
probably  the  only  one  that  is  scientifically  lighted  and  correctly 
ventilated.  The  pupils  face  an  unbroken  east  wall,  with  a  natural 
slate  blackboard  extending  from  corner  to  corner.  The  windows 
in  the  west  wall,  the  rear  of  the  room,  are  set  high  enough  to  pro- 
vide another  blackboard  the  entire  length  of  that  end  of  the  room. 
The  public  road  runs  past  the  west  end  of  the  building,  but  the 
windows  are  so  high  that  the  school  is  not  disturbed  by  passing 
teams,  for  the  pupils  cannot  see  out  even  if  they  should  be  standing. 
Along  the  north  side  of  the  building  are  four  long  windows  reach- 
ing to  the  cornice  above,  and  these  with  the  hi^h  windows  in  the 
west  wall  furnish  enough  light  even  on  the  darkest  days.  This 
north  wall  with  windows  is  not  shown  in  the  illustration.  The  vesti- 
bule leads  into  the  schoolroom  and  into  the  cloak  room.  In  the 
wall  between  the  schoolroom  and  the  cloak  room  is  fitted  a  book- 
case on  the  schoolroom  side  and  shelves  for  dinner  pails  on  the 
cloak  room  side.  The  schoolroom  proper  is  34x24  feet  with  a  12- 
foot  ceiling.     The  cloak  room  is   16x7  feet,  and  the  vestibule  is 


TABLE  ROCK  PI'BLIC  SCHOOL,  Past,  and— 


TABLE  ROCK  PUBLIC  SCHOOL, 
Dedicated  January  10,  1DU2 


*^^i 


PAWNEE  CITY  HIGH  SCHOOL 


-'I  9L 


PAWNEE  CITY  HIGH  SCHOOL 
Interior  Views 


SCHOOL  BUILDINGS  AND  GROUNDS  IN  NEBRASKA  207 

eight  feet  square.  The  furniture  from  the  old  building  is  at  present 
used  in  the  new  one,  but  soon  will  be  replaced  by  new  desks.  The 
blackboards  are  of  natural  slate,  and  anatomical  and  geographical 
charts  are  provided.  A  stove  is  used  for  heating,  and  this  will 
soon  be  provided  with  a  jacket.  Fresh  air  is  admitted  from  the 
outside  by  means  of  a  duct  leading  in  under  the  stove.  The  chil- 
dren, of  course,  face  the  east  wall  and  receive  the  light  mainly 
from  the  left  and  partly  from  the  rear.  The  floor  is  "dead,"  resting 
on  a  layer  of  mortar  several  inches  thick,  which  makes  it  as  solid  as 
a  wall.  The  author  had  the  pleasure  of  visiting  the  school  in  this 
building  last  fall,  and  he  thinlcs  it  compares  favorably  with  the 
model  rural  schoolhouse  illustrated  in  the  frontispiece.  The  Fill- 
more county  building  possesses  one  advantage  in  being  built  of 
brick.     Its  architect  is  Mr.  T.  J.  Beals,  of  Geneva. 

TABLE  ROCK  PUBLIC  SCHOOL 

Until  January  lo,  1902,  the  village  of  Table  Rock  used  as  a 
schoolhouse  one  of  the  most  barn-like  structures  in  the  state,  but 
since  that  date  the  children  in  that  school  district  have  been  housed 
in  one  of  the  neatest,  handsomest,  most  substantial,  most  conveni- 
ent and  commodious  school  buildings  in  any  village  the  size  of 
Table  Rock  anywhere  in  the  state  of  Nebraska.  The  new  school- 
house  is  built  of  the  finest  home-made  vitrified  brick,  with  blue 
flint  stone  trimmings,  also  home-grown,  and  well  finished  wood- 
work. All  the  equipment  and  the  furniture  are  quite  modern.  The 
building  complete  cost  about  $12,000.  It  contains  an  office,  a  lab- 
oratory, a  recitation  room  and  seven  schoolrooms,  all  well  ar- 
ranged and  correctly  lighted.  The  natural  slate  blackboard  is  three 
feet  in  width  in  the  upper  rooms  and  four  feet  wide  below.  The 
building  is  heated  with  steam.  There  are  cloak  rooms,  but  no  in- 
terior toilet  rooms.  Table  Rock  "celebrated"  on  the  occasion  of 
the  dedication  of  its  new  school  building,  and  Superintendent 
Wimberley's  little  girl  recited  an  original  poem  cgncluding  as 
follows : 

"So  farewell  to  the  old  schoolhouse ;  we  are  told 
We  must  bid  it  a  sad  adieu. 
Each  girl  and  each  boy  will  hail  with  great  joy 
A  welcoming  into  the  new." 


208  SCHOOL  BUILDINGS  AND  GROUNDS  IN   NEBRASKA 

PAWNEE   CITY  HIGH    SCHOOL 

This  new  high  school  building  was  erected  in  1899  at  a  cost  of 
$13,000.  It  contains  an  assembly  room,  two  recitation  rooms, 
library,  laboratory,  office,  store  room  and  four  schoolrooms  for  the 
grammar  grades.  The  blackboards  are  painted  upon  the  cement 
plaster.  The  building  is  heated  with  steam  and  ventilated  by  means 
of  shafts  heated  by  steam  coils.  There  is  a  cloak  room  in  connec- 
tion with  each  schoolroom,  but  no  interior  toilet  rooms.  The  rooms 
are  lighted  from  the  left  and  rear.  The  building  is  a  plain  but  a 
solid  and  substantial  one,  conveniently  arranged.  The  walls  are 
tinted  a  shade  of  green. 

LINCOLN   HIGH   SCHOOL 

The  old  Lincoln  high  school  or  central  building,  now  known  as 
Science  Hall,  was  built  in  1872  at  a  cost  of  about  $50,000.  The 
building  contains  nearly  twenty  rooms,  including  laboratories  and 
recitation  rooms.  These  are  seated  mostly  with  tables  and  chairs 
and  school  desks  of  various  makes.  The  blackboards  are  of  plaster. 
The  building  is  heated  with  steam  and  not  properly  ventilated.  It 
is  poorly  adapted  to  present  needs. 

The  new  Lincoln  high  school  building,  known  as  Administra- 
tion Building,  was  erected  in  1897  at  a  cost  of  $25,000.  It  con- 
tains twenty-two  rooms  for  various  purposes.  Here,  also,  plaster 
blackboards  are  in  use,  and  the  building  is  heated  by  steam  and 
ventilated  by  the  gravity  system.  There  are  ventilating  flues  with 
heated  coils  inserted  to  create  an  upward  draft.  The  building  con- 
tains a  large  assembly  room  for  the  accommodation  of  the  entire 
Lincoln  high  school. 

SYRACUSE  PUBLIC  SCHOOL 

This  brick  building  was  erected  in  1890  at  a  cost  of  $10,000.  It 
contains  an  assembly  room,  laboratory,  recitation  room,  two  store 
rooms  and  five  schoolrooms  for  the  accommodation  of  all  the  grades 
from  the  first  through  the  eleventh.  It  is  seated  with  single  desks 
and  furnished  with  slate  blackboards  and  good  apparatus.  It  is 
heated  with  steam  and  inadequately  ventilated  by  means  of  cold  air 
shafts  and  dead  air  flues.  There  is  a  cloak  room  in  connection  with 
each  schoolroom,  but  no  interior  toilet  rooms.     The  rooms  are  well 


LINCOLN  HIGH  SCHOOL  (OLD) 
(Now  Science  Hall) 


LINCOLN  HIGH  SCHOOL 


SYRACUSE  PUBLIC  SCHOOL 


.-^iNoWORTH  PUBLIC  SCHOOL. 


SCHOOL  BUILDINGS  AND  GROUNDS  IN  NEBRASKA  .     211 

lighted,  mainly  from  the  left  and  rear.     The  building  resembles 
the  one  at  Sterling. 

AINSWORTH   PUBLIC  SCHOOL 

This  building  was  constructed  in  1895  of  common  brick  at  a  cost 
of  $10,000.  It  contains  a  large  high  school  room,  a  laboratory,  a 
library  and  five  schoolrooms  for  the  accommodation  of  all  the 
grades  from  the  first  through  the  eleventh.  The  desks  are  nearly 
all  old  ones.  The  blackboards  are  partly  of  natural  slate  and  partly 
of  felt.    The  building  is  heated  by  hot  air,  with  some  ventilation. 

BRADY    PUBLIC    SCHOOL 

This  two-room  frame  building  was  erected  in  1893  at  a  cost  of 
$2,000.  There  is  a  primary  room  located  elsewhere  in  the  village. 
The  rooms  are  heated  by  means  of  stoves  and  lighted  from  both 
sides.  Many  of  the  pupils  come  from  the  country  and  several  from 
other  districts.  The  illustration  shows  the  pupils  as  they  are  about 
to  start  for  their  homes  in  conveyances  of  different  kinds,  just  after 
four  o'clock. 

PRAIRIE    QUEEN    SCHOOL,    SARPY    COUNTY 

This  schoolhouse  in  district  No.  33  of  Sarpy  county  was  erected 
about  1884  at  a  cost  of  $1,000.  It  is  a  little  better  than  the  average 
rural  schoolhouse  in  Sarpy  county  and  eastern  Nebraska.  It  is 
furnished  with  patent  desks,  slate  blackboards,  globe,  dictionary, 
charts,  etc. 

PAPILLION  PUBLIC  SCHOOL 

This  is  one  of  the  best  school  buildings  in  Sarpy  county.  It  was 
erected  in  1892  at  a  cost  of  $20,000.  It  contains  six  schoolrooms, 
a  laboratory,  a  library,  play  rooms,  etc.,  for  the  eleven  grades.  It 
is  seated  with  both  single  and  double  desks,  furnished  with  slate 
blackboards,  physical  apparatus,  maps,  etc.  It  is  heated  and  venti- 
lated by  means  of  the  Smead  hot-air  system.  There  are  cloak 
rooms,  and  also  toilet  rooms  in  the  basement.  The  rooms  arc 
lighted  mainly  from  the  left  and  rear.  The  building  is  constructed 
of  pressed  brick,  with  wide  hallways  and  stairways,  and  hard-wood 
floors. 


212  SCHOOL  BUILDINGS  AND  GROUNDS  IN  NEBRASKA 

GRETNA   PUBLIC    SCHOOL 

This  building-  was  erected  in  1898  at  a  cost  of  nearly  $8,000.  It 
contains  four  schoolrooms  and  two  or  three  smaller  rooms.  It  is 
furnished  with  single  desks  and  slate  blackboards,  maps  and  globes. 
It  is  heated  with  steam  and  well  ventilated.  There  are  cloak  rooms, 
but  no  interior  toilet  rooms.  Two  of  the  schoolrooms  are  lighted 
from  the  left  and  rear  and  the  other  two  from  the  right  and  rear. 
The  building  is  faced  wath  the  very  best  buff  pressed  brick.  The 
grounds  are  255  x  382  feet,  and  they  have  1,000  linear  feet  of  brick 
pavement,  four,  six  and  eight  feet  in  width. 

LONG  PINE  PUBLIC  SCHOOL 

This  building  was  erected  in  1888  at  a  cost  of  $4,000.  It  contains 
four  schoolrooms  and  two  recitation  rooms  for  the  use  of  the  eleven 
grades.  The  blackboards  are  of  hyloplate.  The  building  is  heated 
with  stoves  but  not  ventilated  except  as  shown  in  the  illustration. 

CRAWFORD  PUBLIC   SCHOOL 

This  building  was  erected  in  1891  at  a  cost  of  $20,000.  It  is 
situated  on  a  high  hill  overlooking  the  village  of  Crawford,  in  north- 
western Nebraska.  It  contains  seven  schoolrooms,  a  recitation 
room,  library,  laboratory,  and  some  rooms  in  the  basement  where 
the  children  may  play  and  eat  their  lunches,  and  also  rooms  in  which 
the  janitor  and  his  wife  live.  The  furniture  is  good,  the  black- 
boards of  liquid  slating  and  the  apparatus  fair.  The  building  is 
heated  with  steam  and  ventilated.  There  are  cloak  rooms  but  no 
interior  toilet  rooms. 

WEEPING   WATER  PUBLIC   SCHOOL 

This  building  was  erected  in  1890  except  the  third  story,  which 
was  added  in  1899.  The  building  cost  $15,000.  It  contains  ten 
rooms  for  the  accommodation  of  all  the  grades.  It  is  furnished 
with  double  desks  and  hyloplate  blackboard,  and  is  fairly  well 
equipped  with  apparatus  for  the  laboratories.  It  is  heated  with 
steam  and  ventilated.  It  contains  cloak  rooms  but  no  interior 
toilet  rooms.  The  schoolrooms  are  lighted  mainly  from  the  left 
and  rear. 


SCHOOL  BUILDINGS  AND  GROUNDS  IN  NEBRASKA  223 

rented  for  a  school  in  a  slum  district,  or  in  a  mere  shanty  school 
in  the  west  of  Ireland.  The  great  purpose  of  learning  to  know 
printed  language,  to  become  eye-minded  instead  of  ear-minded — to 
gain  besides  one's  colloquial  vocabulary  also  a  vocabu'ary  of  sci- 
ence and  literature  and  philosophy — to  become  able  to  understand 
and  use  technical  language — all  these  things  came  then  and  come 
now  to  the  gifted  youth  without  the  improvements  in  hygiene  that 
we  clamor  for.  Abraham  Lincoln  read  by  the  fire-light  of  the 
blazing  hearth  and  fed  his  mighty  mind. 

It  is  true  that  the  average  of  life  in  those  unhygienic  days  was 
far  less  than  now.  But  the  illiterate  savage  does  not  reach  a  life 
average  so  great  as  the  unhygienic  but  civilized  man,  and  what  is 
more  to  the  point,  fifty  years  of  Europe  is  worth  a  cycle  of  Cathay. 
A  rational  life,  growing  in  the  production  of  science  and  art  and 
literature,  and  in  diffusing  the  blessing  of  civilization,  is  better  than 
a  savage  life,  even  if  the  latter  were  to  have  an  average  of  eighty 
years,  while  the  former  were  to  have  an  average  of  thirty  years. 
According  to  the  merely  biologic  point  of  view,  life  is  life  whether 
of  plant  or  animal  or  man,  and  the  more  of  it  the  better.  But  such 
is  not  the  spiritual  point  of  view. 


224  SCHOOL  BUILDINGS  AND  GROUNDS  IN   NEBRASKA 


A  Proposed  School  Law 

AN    ACT   PROVIDING   FOR   THE   HEATING,   LIGHTING  Al,^    .  iiiMTILATING 

OF    PUBLIC    SCHOOLHOUSES,    AND    FIXING    PENALTIES    FOR   A 

VIOLATION    OF   THE    PROVISIONS    THEREOF 

Be  it  enacted  by  the  Legislature  of  the  State  of  Nebraska: 

Section  i.  It  shall  hereafter  be  unlawful  in  the  state  of  Ne- 
braska to  let  any  contract  for,  or  to  construct  any  public  school- 
house,  or  school  building,  or  to  reconstruct  or  remodel  any  old 
schoolhouse  or  other  building,  to  be  thereafter  used  for  school  pur- 
poses, the  lighting,  heating  and  ventilating  of  which  is  not  in  full 
accord  with  the  provisions  of  this  act. 

Sec  2.  All  public  school  buildings,  hereafter  constructed  or  re- 
modeled for  school  purposes,  must  be  lighted  by  windows  placed  in 
the  rear  and  side  wall  or  walls  of  each  class  and  study  room,  and 
such  v/indows  shall  contain  glass  surface  of  not  less  than  one-fifth 
of  the  floor  space  of  each  room ;  and  all  desks  and  seats  shall  be  so 
arranged  that  the  windows  shall  be  on  the  left  and  in  the  rear,  so 
far  as  possible,  of  the  pupils. 

Sec.  3.  All  class  and  study  rooms  shall  contain  not  less  than  fif- 
teen feet  of  floor  space  and  not  less  than  one  hundred  and  eighty  feet 
of  air  space  for  each  pupil. 

Sec.  4.  All  public  schoolhouses  or  school  buildings  of  four  or 
more  rooms  each,  which  shall  hereafter  be  constructed  or  remod- 
eled for  school  purposes,  must  be  provided  with  such  heating  and 
ventilating  apparatus  as  will  facilitate  the  introduction  of  warm 
air,  when  occasion  requires,  into  each  class  or  study  room,  not  less 
than  eight  feet  above  the  floor  line,  with  provision  for  the  exit  of 
impure  air  at  the  floor  line ;  and  the  whole  shall  be  so  arranged  that 
the  required  temperature  can  be  maintained  throughout  each  room 
and  the  air  changed  in  each  room  (measured  at  the  exit  opening) 
at  least  six  times  in  each  hour  without  lowering  the  temperature 
or  creating  a  noticeable  draft  at  or  below  the  breathing  line. 

Sec  5.  All  closets  and  urinals  must  be  so  constructed  as  to  pro- 
vide for  the  separation  of  the  pupils  using  the  same.  They  must 
also  be  provided  with  vent  flues,  so  arranged  that  all  foul  odors 
and  air  will  be  carried  out  below  the  breathing  line. 


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SCHOOL  BUILDINGS  AND  GROUNDS  IN   NEBRASKA  22" 

Sec.  6.  Any  contract  for  the  construction  or  remodeling  of  any 
school  building,  not  in  conformity  with  the  requirements  of  this 
act,  shall  be  void ;  and  any  public  school  officer  or  contractor  who 
shall  violate  the  terms  and  conditions  of  this  act,  by  letting  or  ac- 
cepting any  contract  for  the  constructing  or  remodeling  of  any 
public  sclioolhouse  or  school  building  not  in  conformity  with  this 
act.  shall  be  deemed  guilty  of  a  misdemeanor,  and  shall  be  subject  to 
a  fine  of  not  less  than  fifty  dollars  nor  more  than  five  hundred  dol- 
lars for  each  ofifense. 


We  believe  that  the  standards  for  school  architecture,  including 
the  proper  seating,  heating,  lighting,  ventilation  and  ornamentation 
of  school  buildings  should  be  as  definite  as  the  standards  for  teach- 
ing. The  law  should  fix  the  dimensions  and  all  other  requirements 
of  school  buildings  as  well  as  the  size  and  character  of  school 
grounds. — From  declaration  of  principles  adopted  by  unanimous 
vote  of  the  National  Educational  Association. 


228  SCHOOL  BUILDINGS  AND  GROUNDS  IN  NEBRASKA 


The  Rural  School  Problem:     A  Solution. 

CONSOLIDATION   OF  SCHOOL  DISTRICTS,   CENTRALIZATION   OF   SCHOOLS, 
AND   PUBLIC   TRANSPORTATION   OF   PUPILS. 

I  have  great  faith  in  the  rural  school,  in  its  powers,  and  of  what 
it  may  do  for  the  individual  pupil,  but  I  think  the  result  of  its  work 
on  the  average  does  not  ccmpare  with  the  work  of  the  best  city 
schools,  and  cannot  under  the  present  conditions.  How  to  improve 
the  present  conditions  is  a  serious  problem,  and  I  know  of  but  one 
solution.  Rural  mail  delivery  is  now  spreading  through  this  west- 
em  country.  Roads  are  being  improved.  Telephones  are  coming 
into  common  use  in  the  country  as  well  as  in  the  cities.  Several 
counties  in  the  eastern  part  of  the  state  have  lately  organized  county 
telephone  systems,  and  before  long  all  calls  for  physicians,  for  sup- 
plies and  provisions,  for  broken  castings  for  farm  machinery,  for 
twine  for  the  binder,  for  drugs  and  medicines  and  for  hundreds  of 
other  little  things  will  be  by  telephone,  and  thereby  one-half  of  the 
time  usually  expended  in  securing  them  will  be  saved. 

We  must  enrich  rural  life  and  increase  the  advantages  of  the 
farmer  and  his  family  in  order  to  counteract  the  flow  of  humanity 
from  country  to  city.  A  census  bulletin  issued  last  year  states  that 
the  percentage  of  population  of  the  United  States  in  cities  of  8,000 
or  more  inhabitants  has  steadily  increased  each  decade.  It  was 
3.4  per  cent  in  1790,  12.5  per  cent  in  1850,  22.6  per  cent  in  1880, 
29.2  per  cent  in  1890,  and  33.1  per  cent  in  1900.  The  percentage 
of  our  population  that  lived  in  cities  of  4,000  inhabitants  or  more 
in  1880  was  25.8;  in  1890,  32.9;  and  in  1900,  37.3.  These  figures  are 
significant.  They  mean  that  from  1880  to  1890  seven  persons  in 
every  one  hundred  of  our  population  moved  from  country  or  village 
to  city  and  none  moved  back.  From  1890  to  1900  four  or  five  per- 
sons in  every  one  hundred  moved  from  country  or  village  to  city 
and  none  moved  back.  What  shall  we  do  to  be  saved  from  our 
great  cities?  Shall  we  permit  the  decay  and  destruction  of  our 
pure  country  life,  or  shall  we  endeavor  to  bring  some  of  the  great 
comforts  and  conveniences  and  advantages  of  city  life  into  the 
country  ? 

Now  for  years  we  have  been  working  at  cutting  up  this  state  and 


SCHOOL  BUILDINGS  AND  GROUNDS  IN  NEBRASKA  229 

its  counties  into  small  school  districts.  Schools  of  a  few  pupils  are 
the  rule,  and  large  schools  are  the  exception.  What  inspiration  can 
the  pupils  of  a  school  of  three  or  four  or  half  a  dozen  have  to  do 
good  work?  There  is  no  life,  energy,  inspiration,  emulation  or  de- 
sire to  excel.  The  school  is  dead  spiritually  and  intellectually,  and 
I  have  seen  many  a  small  school  that  might  as  well  have  been  dis- 
continued as  far  as  practical  results  were  concerned.  You  may  be 
doing  well  under  the  conditions,  but  what  are  the  conditions?  How 
could  they  be  much  worse  ?  Poor,  battered  old  schoolhouses,  some- 
times lacking  paint,  with  cannon-ball  stoves,  and  cheerless  yards ; 
while  in  our  cities  we  are  building  modern,  scientific  structures, 
correctly  heated,  ventilated,  lighted  and  seated,  often  built  of  brick, 
sometimes  with  stone  foundations  and  with  beautiful  surroundings. 
]\Tany  of  the  best  schools  of  the  state  are  in  towns  employing  from 
three  to  six  teachers.  There  they  have  but  two  or  three  classes  in 
each  room,  with  all  the  rooms  in  one  building,  a  principal  who  may 
know  what  each  class  is  doing,  thereby  securing  better  and  closer 
supervision  than  is  possible  in  larger  places,  and  a  janitor  to  look 
after  school  property. 

Why  do  you  not  have  the  same  in  your  rural  communities  ?  It  is 
not  an  impossibility.  Let  me  suggest  to  you  what  has  been  done 
in  some  of  the  eastern  states.  Thirty  years  ago  in  Massachusetts 
they  began  centralizing  their  rural  schools  by  public  transportation 
of  pupils  in  vans  or  wagons.  About  ten  years  ago  the  plan  had 
reached  Ohio,  and  in  the  last  few  }ears  it  has  spread  into  Indiana, 
Illinois,  and  is  now  being  strongly  advocated  in  Iowa.  Briefly  the 
plan  is  this :  Instead  of  nine  rural  districts  with  about  four  sec- 
tions of  land  each,  teachers  with  salaries  of  about  $35,  and  an  aver- 
age enrollment  of  twenty  pupils,  we  have  in  the  center  of  the 
township  a  brick  building  of  four  rooms,  with  forty-five  pupils  in 
each  room,  and  two  or  three  grades  only.  We  may  have  a  princi- 
pal of  considerable  training  and  experience,  who  receives  a  salary 
of  from  $60  to  $75,  and  teaches  the  highest  room.  The  three  other 
teachers  receive  about  $45  each.  There  is  a  janitor  who  looks  after 
the  building,  its  heating  plant,  its  toilet  rooms  or  outlniildings  and 
the  grounds  generally.  There  may  be  sheds  in  whic'  the  horses 
are  kept  during  the  day.  The  pupils  are  gathered  from  various 
parts  of  the  township  by  covered  vans  or  wagons  that  start  at  7  45 
A.M.,  or  at  a  stated  regular  time,  day  after  day,  and  cover  an  cstab- 


230  SCHOOL  BUILDINGS  AND  GROUNDS  IN  NEBRASKA 

lishcd  route,  picking  up  the  children  along  the  way  and  delivering 
them  at  the  schoolhouse  at  about  8 145 ;  distributing  them  again 
after  four  o'clock  in  the  afternoon.  Where  the  plan  has  been  in 
operation,  the  drivers  selected  are  clean,  capable,  sober  men,  not 
given  to  profanity  or  tobacco,  and  are  paid  $25  or  $30  per  month. 
They  furnish  their  own  team  and  wagon,  with  lap  robes,  and  as  a 
rule,  carpet  their  vehicles  and  provide  seats ;  let  me  say  right  here, 
that  in  bad  weather,  in  rain  or  storm  or  strong  wind,  I  would  rather 
my  child  would  ride  five  miles  in  such  a  vehicle  than  walk  one  or 
two  miles.  In  pleasant  weather,  I  would  just  as  soon  have  him 
walk  as  ride. 

CONSOLIDATION  OF   SCHOOLS 

To  overcome  the  many  disadvantages  in  the  present  rural  school 
system  in  Nebraska,  and  for  the  purpose  of  giving  every  farmer's 
girl  and  boy  in  this  noble  commonwealth  opportunities  equal  to 
those  of  the  girls  and  boys  of  the  village  and  city,  we  recommend 
to  the  careful  consideration  of  every  rural  school  board  and  to  the 
fathers  and  mothers  in  these  rural  districts  the  consolidation  of 
schools  and  the  transportation  of  pupils.  Consolidate,  or  central- 
ize, the  weak  districts  into  a  common  central  school,  conveying  the 
pupils  from  every  part  of  the  greater  district  or  the  congressional 
township  to  and  from  the  central  schools  by  means  of  covered  vans 
or  wagons,  in  charge  of  clean,  capable,  careful  drivers.  Such  a 
plan  would  now  be  legal,  as  the  six-mile  limit  in  the  formation  of 
school  districts  has  been  removed.  And  we  already  have  the  trans- 
portation law.  Notice  the  following  provisions  of  Nebraska  School 
Laws. 

1.  One  district  may  be  discontinued,  and  its  territory  attached  to 
other  adjoining  districts,  upon  petitions  signed  by  one-half  of  the 
legal  voters  of  each  district  affected.  (Subdivision  i,  Section  4, 
Fourth  Condition.) 

2.  The  six-mile  limit  in  the  formation  of  school  districts  has  been 
removed,  and  districts  may  now  be  formed  extending  more  than  six 
miles  in  any  direction. 

3.  The  district  board  may  (and  usually  should)  close  the  weaker 
and  smaller  schools  in  a  district  and  transport  the  pupils  at  public 
expense  to  any  other  school  in  the  district.  A  board  of  education  of 
a  city,  or  a  board  of  trustees  of  a  high  school  district,  by  a  two- 


SCHOOL  BUILDINGS  AND  GROUNDS  IN  NEBRASKA  23I 

thirds  vote  of  the  entire  board,  or  a  district  board  of  any  school  dis- 
trict in  this  state  when  authorized  by  a  two-thirds  vote  of  those 
present  at  any  annual  or  special  meeting,  is  hereby  empowered  to 
make  provision  for  the  transportation  of  pupils  residing  within  said 
district  to  any  other  school  (within  said  district)  to  which  said 
pupils  may  lawfully  attend,  whenever  the  distance  from  such  schools 
shall  render  it  impracticable  for  said  pupils  to  attend  without  trans- 
portation.    (Subdivision  5,  Section  4b.) 

4.  Or,  the  district  board  may  close  school  and  transport  their 
pupils  at  public  expense  to  a  neighboring  district  without  forfeiting 
the  state  apportionment.  A  board  of  trustees  of  a  high  school  district, 
or  a  district  board  of  a  school  district  in  this  state,  when  authorized 
by  a  two-thirds  vote  of  those  present  at  any  annual  or  special  meet- 
ing, is  hereby  empowered  to  contract  with  the  district  board  of  any 
neighboring  district  for  the  instruction  of  (all)  pupils  residing  in 
the  first  named  district  in  schools  maintained  by  the  neighboring 
district,  and  to  make  provision  for  the  transportation  of  said  pupils 
to  the  above-named  school  of  the  neighboring  district  under  the 
conditions  named  in  the  preceding  section ;  Provided,  That  school 
districts  thus  providing  instruction  for  their  children  in  neighbor- 
ing districts  shall  be  considered  as  maintaining  a  school  as  required 
by  law ;  Provided,  further,  That  the  teacher  of  the  last-named 
school  shall  keep  a  separate  record  of  attendance  of  all  pupils  from 
the  first  named  district  and  make  a  separate' report  to  the  director 
of  said  district. 

This  idea  of  consolidation  and  transportation  is  not  original  with 
us.  It  has  proven  a  success  in  many  states  east  of  Nebraska.  The 
merits  of  the  plan  may  be  briefly  stated  as  follows : 

1.  It  permits  a  better  grading  of  the  schools  and  classification  of 
pupils.  Consolidation  allows  pupils  to  be  placed  where  they  can 
work  to  the  best  advantage,  the  various  subjects  of  study  to  be 
wisely  selected  and  correlated  and  more  time  to  be  given  to  recita- 
tions. Pupils  work  in  graded  schools,  and  both  teachers  and  pupils 
are  under  systematic  and  closer  supervision. 

2.  It  affords  an  opportunity  for  thorough  work  in  special 
branches,  such  as  drawing,  music  and  nature  study.  It  also  allows 
an  enrichment  in  other  lines. 

3.  It  opens  the  doors  to  more  weeks  of  schooling  and  to  scliools 
of    a    higher    grade.     The    people    in    villages    almost    invariably 


232  SCHOOL  BUILDINGS  AND  GROUNDS  IN  NEBRASKA 

lengthen  the  school  year  and  support  a  high  school  for  advanced 
pupils. 

4.  It  insures  the  employment  and  retention  of  better  teachers. 
Fewer  teachers  are  required,  so  better  teachers  may  be  secured  and 
better  wages  paid. 

5.  It  makes  the  work  of  the  specialist  and  supervisor  far  more 
effective.  Their  plans  and  efforts  can  all  be  concentrated  into  some- 
thing tangible. 

6.  It  adds  the  stimulating  influences  of  larger  classes,  with  the 
resulting  enthusiasm  and  generous  rivalry.  The  discipline  and 
training  obtained  are  invaluable. 

7.  It  affords  the  broader  companionship  and  culture  that  comes 
from  association. 

8.  It  results  in  a  better  attendance  of  pupils,  as  proved  by  ex- 
perience in  towns  where  the  plan  has  been  thoroughly  tried.  At- 
tendance is  from  50  to  150  per  cent  greater,  more  regular  and  of 
longer  continuance,  and  there  is  neither  tardiness  nor  truancy. 

9.  It  leads  to  better  school  buildings,  better  heating,  lighting  and 
ventilating,  better  equipment,  a  larger  supply  of  books,  charts,  maps 
and  apparatus.  All  these  naturally  follow  a  concentration  of  peo- 
ple, wealth  and  effort,  and  aid  in  making  good  schools.  The  larger 
expenditure  implied  in  these  better  appointments  is  wise  economy, 
for  the  cost  per  pupil  is  really  much  less  than  the  cost  in  small  and 
widely  separated  schools^  but  the  cost  in  nearly  all  cases  is  reduced. 
Under  thi^  is  included  cost  and  maintenance  of  school  buildings, 
apparatus,  furniture  and  tuition.  This  expenditure  may  be  in- 
augurated gradually,  by  removing  four  or  five  of  the  better  school 
buildings  to  the  central  location  for  temporary  use. 

10.  It  quickens  public  interest  in  the  schools.  Pride  in  the  quality 
of  work  done  secures  a  greater  sympathy  and  better  fellowship 
throughout  the  township.  Pupils  are  benefited  by  a  wider  circle  of 
acquaintance  and  culture  resulting  therefrom.  The  whole  com- 
munity is  drawn  together. 

11.  The  health  of  the  children  is  better,  the  children  being  less 
exposed  to  stormy  weather,  and  avoiding  sitting  in  damp  clothing. 

12.  Public  barges  used  for  children  in  the  daytime  may  be  used 
to  transport  their  parents  to  public  gatherings  in  the  evenings,  to 
lecture  courses,  etc. 


SCHOOL  BUILDINGS  AND  GROUNDS  IN  NEBRASKA  233 

13.  Transportation  makes  possible  the  distribution  of  mail 
throughout  the  whole  township  daily. 

14.  Finally,  by  transportation  the  farm  again,  as  of  old,  becomes 
tl.e  ideal  place  in  which  to  bring  up  children,  enabling  them  to  se- 
cure the  advantages  of  centers  of  population  and  spend  their  even- 
ings and  holiday  time  in  contact  with  nature  and  plenty  of  work, 
instead  of  idly  loafing  about  town. 

We  are  in  the  midst  of  an  industrial  revolution.  The  principle 
of  concentration  has  touched  our  farming,  our  manufacturing,  our 
mining  and  our  commerce.  There  are  those  who  greatly  fear  the 
outcome.  There  are  those  who  prophesied  disaster  and  even  the 
destruction  of  society  on  the  introduction  of  labor-saving  machin- 
ery. We  have  adjusted  ourselves  to  the  new  conditions  thus  intro- 
duced. Most  of  us  believe  that  we  shall  again  adjust  ourselves  to 
the  new  industrial  conditions.  The  changes  in  industrial  and  social 
conditions  makes  necessary  similar  changes  in  educational  affairs. 
The  watchword  of  today  is  concentration,  the  dominant  force  is 
centripetal.  Not  only  for  the  saving  of  expense,  but  for  the  better 
quality  of  the  work  must  we  bring  our  pupils  together.  No  manu- 
facturing business  could  endure  a  year  run  on  a  plan  so  extravagant 
as  the  district  system  of  schools. 


234  SCHOOL  BUILDINGS  AND  GROUNDS  IN  NEBRASKA 


The  Passing  of  the  District  School 

BY   M.   VINCENT  o'SHEA 
SCHOOI^  OF  EDUCATION,  THE  UNIVERSITY  OF  WISCONSIN 

For  many  decades  the  little  red  schoolhouse  has  occupied  a  cov- 
eted place  in  the  affections  of  the  American  people.  It  has  been 
generally  believed,  whether  justly  or  not,  that  most  great  men  have 
learned  how  to  shoot  in  the  district  school ;  the  lessons  which  have 
been  taught  there  could  never  be  learned  anywhere  else  so  well,  it 
has  been  widely  claimed.  But  those  who  attribute  such  virtues  to 
the  old-fashioned  district  school  rarely  attempt  to  show  just  wherein 
its  peculiar  worth  lay.  Ordinarily  one  would  think  that  a  school 
containing  pupils  ranging  all  the  way  from  a-b-c  tots  to  voters 
taking  a  round  of  algebra,  and  all  taught  by  a  single  teacher  re- 
cently graduated  from  the  district  school  herself,  working  without 
apparatus  and  with  text-books  long  since  superannuated, — one 
would  expect  such  an  institution  to  be  greatly  handicapped  in  all  its 
processes.  And  people  in  our  day  are  coming  to  just  this  conclu- 
sion. They  are  realizing  that  because  great  men  were  bred  in  the 
country  is  not  certain  evidence  that  the  district  school  made  them 
great,  or  at  least  that  it  could  not  have  been  of  far  greater  benefit 
to  them.  There  are  many  who  believe  that  the  disadvantages  under 
which  the  district  school  has  labored  have  prevented  it  from  doing 
the  most  for  its  pupils,  and  this  is  made  especially  manifest  in 
modern  life,  when  so  much  more  is  demanded  of  individuals  than 
was  expected  or  required  a  half  century  ago. 

So  the  most  important  movement  now  in  progress  affecting  the 
education  of  children  in  the  country  is  that  which  looks  toward  the 
improvement  of  the  rural  schools  by  consolidating  the  smaller  dis- 
tricts into  central  graded  schools.  It  is  well  known,  of  course,  that 
the  experiment  has  been  tried  in  several  states  and  has  been  found 
to  be  entirely  feasible,  and  most  people  think  eminently  desirable, 
although  it  is  true  that  there  is  vigorous  opposition  to  it  in  every 
community  in  which  it  has  not  been  tried.  The  reports  of  state 
superintendents  which  come  to  hand  all  set  forth  the  advantages  of 
consolidation,  and  they  are  urging  it  upon  the  schools  under  their 
jurisdiction. 


SCHOOL  BUILDINGS  AND  GROUNDS  IN  NEBRASKA  235 

The  most  important  of  the  reasons  for  absorption  of  the  lone  and 
soHtary  district  school  into  a  larger  central  school,  equipped  with 
an  adequate  number  of  teachers  and  with  suitable  appliances  for 
teaching  in  an  efficient  rnanner,  will  be  evident  to  any  one  who  will 
give  the  question  some  attention!  For  one  thing  it  is  an  expensive 
matter  to  keep  all  the  original  district  schools  running  full  time 
and  manned  with  competent  instructors.  It  is  more  expensive  in  a 
certain  sense  in  our  day  than  it  was  twenty-five  years  ago,  because 
the  drift  of  people  cityward  has  left  almost  pupilless  communities 
once  quite  populous  with  youngsters  of  school  age.  A  century  ago 
four  per  cent  of  the  people  lived  in  cities ;  now  thirty  per  cent  live 
there.  The  Hon.  G.  T.  Fletcher,  discussing  the  situation  in  Massa- 
chusetts, says : 

"Within  the  last  fifty  years  changes  have  been  wrought  in  social 
life  and  conditions.  The  increase  of  population  and  wealth  in  cen- 
ters of  commerce  and  manufacturing  is  both  a  cause  and  a  result  of 
an  exodus  of  the  farming  population  to  the  cities  and  large  towns. 

"In  many  rural  communities  farms  are  abandoned,  or  only  the 
'old  folks'  left  at  home,  to  pass  the  remnant  of  their  days,  while  the 
farm  constantly  depreciated  in  value.  The  yovmg,  vigorous  element 
of  the  population  left  home  to  work  in  store  or  factory.  Families 
remaining  in  the  'hill  towns,'  or  coming  to  them,  had  few  children, 
and  as  a  result  the  schools  became  small,  the  local  interest  in  them 
often  decreasing  in  the  same  ratio.  These  changes  came  in  differ- 
ent degrees  of  severity  to  different  towns.  Those  most  favorably 
situated  for  farming  purposes  'held  their  own'  to  quite  an  extent, 
in  adult  population  and  wealth,  but  the  number  of  children  con- 
stantly lessened,  and  the  schools,  though  not  generally  reduced  in 
number,  were  reduced  greatly  in  attendance.  Occasionally  schools 
were  united  to  increase  the  number  of  pupils,  or  a  winter  term  was 
held  in  the  center  of  the  town  for  the  older  pupils  of  all  the  districts. 
Just  when  and  where  consolidation  on  a  small  scale  began  we  can- 
not tell.  The  cause  and  the  fact  of  a  beginning  are  both  evident. 
There  came  to  the  people,  slowly  at  first,  a  realization  that  the 
interest,  economy  and  efficiency  that  had  in  many  cases  character- 
ized the  large  number  of  schools  of  former  days  were  wanting.  The 
struggle  to  maintain  the  same  number  of  schools  as  when  the  adult 
population  was  greater,  the  property  valuation  was  twice  as  large, 
and  the  town  had  three  times  as  many  children  of  school  age,  was  as 


2^6  SCHOOL  BUILDINGS  AND  GROUNDS  IN  NEBRASKA 

painfully  evident  then  as  it  is  now.  The  school  had  been  the  com- 
mon center  of  interest,  and  the  thought  of  its  closing  was  a  shock 
to  the  people.  No  wonder  a  deep-seated  feeling  existed,  and  still 
continues,  that  home  interest  and  property  valuation  would  suffer 
from  the  discontinuance  of  the  local  school." 

Late  reports  show  that  Maine  has  over  a  thousand  schools  with 
less  than  thirteen  pupils.  Vermont  has  in  the  neighborhood  of  two 
hundred  with  less  than  seven  pupils.  In  1897  New  York  had  3,090 
school  districts  having  an  average  daily  attendance  of  ten  or  less, 
but  at  the  close  of  last  year  there  were  3,550  such  schools,  making 
an  increase  of  461  during  the  past  four  years.  And  this  phenome- 
non is  more  striking  and  significant  when  it  is  taken  in  connection 
with  the  further  fact  that  the  total  number  of  districts  in  the  state 
had  been  reduced  during  the  period  indicated  from  10,965  to  10,791, 
a  decrease  of  174.  Somewhat  similar  conditions  are  prevailing  in 
the  other  states,  at  least  in  the  older  states,  showing  that  the  move- 
ment of  pupils  is  away  from  the  rural  regions  and  towards  the 
centers  of  population.  Wisconsin  has  in  the  neighborhood  of  two 
hundred  schools  with  less  than  six  pupils,  and  a  number  of  cases 
were  reported  where  there  were  only  two  or  three  regular  attend- 
ants. In  some  instances  the  climax  was  reached  when  a  single  regu- 
lar attendant  was  taken  sick,  and  the  teacher  was  left  without  any 
one  to  instruct. 

In  the  old-time  district  school  with  fifty  or  more  pupils  of  all  ages 
from  four  to  twenty-one,  there  were  many  great  obstacles  to  ef- 
fective teaching,  but  the  school  of  two  or  three  pupils,  or  even  ten, 
is  at  a  still  greater  disadvantage,  for  the  reason  that  the  stimulus 
which  comes  from  a  healthy  rivalry  and  the  reaction  of  pupils  upon 
one  another  is  lacking.  Moreover,  in  a  school  of  these  dimensions 
there  will  usually  be  but  one  pupil  in  a  class,  and  this  is  not  enough 
to  inspire  a  teacher  to  do  her  best.  Quintilian  indicated  long  ago 
that  a  tutor  could  instruct  a  number  of  children  better  than  one 
alone,  since  numbers  would  rouse  him  to  genuine  effort  and  call 
forth  the  best  that  is  in  him. 

Then,  too,  no  community  can  be  induced  to  provide  proper  facil- 
ities for  the  teaching  of  but  half  a  dozen  children.  As  a  result 
things  are  going  to  the  bad  in  the  districts  where  pupils  are  growing 
steadily  fewer  in  number.  The  buildings  are  in  a  decadent  con- 
dition, there  is  no  encouragement  to  replace  worn  out  reference 


School  buildings  and  grounds  in  nebrasica  237 

books  and  illustrative  charts  in  schools  that  were  at  any  time  so 
fortunate  as  to  have  had  anything  of  the  sort;  and  worst  of  all 
people  will  not  get  a  competent  teacher  when  she  can  give  instruc- 
tion to  no  more  than  a  dozen  children.  In  one  of  the  most  pros- 
perous communities  in  Illinois  a  simple,  immature,  helpless  girl 
was  engaged  last  fall  to  take  charge  of  a  district  school  where 
there  were  about  fifteen  pupils  pursuing  studies  all  the  way  from 
the  alphabet  to  algebra.  She  was  about  as  unfit  as  one  could  well 
be  to  take  charge  of  any  of  the  pupils,  but  particularly  of  two  or 
three  of  the  older  boys  who  knew  as  much  of  the  world  as  she  did, 
and  had  as  much  strength  of  character.  It  is  pitiful  to  think  of  the 
schooling  they  will  get  this  year  in  that  district  school ;  and  what 
is  true  of  that  community  is  true  of  many  another,  as  the  readers 
of  this  note  can  doubtless  testify. 

People  are  opposed  to  the  plan  of  centralization  mainly  because 
the  difi'erent  comnumities  do  not  want  any  authority  taken  out  of 
their  hands.  In  most  localities  the  trusteeship  of  the  district  school 
is  the  only  public  office  to  which  many  of  the  men  ever  aspire,  and 
they  look  with  much  disfavor  upon  any  plan  which  would  pre- 
vent them  from  serving  their  fellow-citizens,  and  incidentally  from 
obtaining  local  fame.  The  school  district  is  the  smallest  unit  of 
government,  but  it  is  not  the  least  jealous  of  its  prerogatives,  and  it 
must  be  expected  that  the  proposal  to  merge  this  unit  into  larger 
units  will  always  arouse  many  apprehensions  and  arouse  a  good 
deal  of  hostile  feeling.  But  this  objection  can  be  met  in  a  way  by 
so  arranging  it  that  the  various  communities  entering  into  consoli- 
dation may  be  represented  in  the  central  school  board.  The  central 
school  then  would  be  controlled  by  a  board  of  trustees  made  up  of 
delegates  from  each  district  uniting.  This  mode  of  procedure  is, 
of  course,  followed  in  the  government  of  all  bodies  where  there  arc 
communities  or  localities  or  wards  with  interests  more  or  less  dis- 
tinct. Every  city  has  its  sections  with  a  man  to  represent  each  in 
the  common  council ;  so  in  this  consolidated  school  district  the  orig- 
inal districts  will  constitute  the  wards  or  sections,  each  entitled  to 
one  or  more  members  to  the  central  school  council. 

Another  objection  urged  is  the  one  of  increased  cost.  It  is  said 
that  it  will  be  more  expensive  to  have  a  central  school  to  which 
pupils  must  be  conveyed  in  some  way.  In  most  of  the  states  where 
the  plan  is  in  operation  children  are  conveyed  to  the  central  scliool 


23S  SCHOOL  BUILDINGS  AND  GROUNDS  IN   NEBRASKA 

by  means  of  carriages  Avhich  call  for  each  one  in  the  morning  and 
deliver  him  at  his  door  at  night.  To  one  who  has  not  figured  it  out 
this  would  seem  to  involve  great  expense ;  but  when  the  saving  in 
teachers'  wages  is  considered,  and  also  in  the  maintenance  of  a 
number  of  school  buildings,  it  can  be  realized  that  there  is  a  possi- 
bility of  gain  instead  of  loss  in  centralization.  In  Kingsville  town- 
ship, Ohio,  the  cost  per  pupil  for  a  year's  schooling  has  been  re- 
duced from  about  ^2t,  to  $12.  The  township  saved  a  thousand 
dollars  in  three  years.  There  has  been  a  saving  in  Madison  county 
in  the  same  state  of  $4  per  pupil.  Winnebago  county,  in  Iowa, 
saved  nearly  $500  in  a  year.  The  report  of  the  work  in  Connecticut 
states  that  eighty-four  schools  were  closed,  849  pupils  were  trans- 
ported to  central  schools,  and  there  w'as  an  increase  in  cost  in  only 
a  single  case.  Similar  figures  have  been  presented  in  the  reports  of 
other  state  superintendents,  all  of  which  indicate  that  centraliza- 
tion can  be  carried  out  with  a  saving  in  expense  to  the  community. 

Another  prominent  objection  to  the  scheme  of  centralization  is 
that  it  will  lead  to  a  depreciation  of  property  in  the  districts  in 
which  the  school  is  closed,  but  this  fear  has  been  shown  to  be  en- 
tirely unfounded.  As  Superintendent  Fulson,  of  New  Hampshire, 
has  said,  "a  schoolhouse  on  every  farm  would  not  repopulate  the 
rural  sections  of  our  state."  Quite  the  opposite  effect,  indeed, 
would  be  realized  from  the  conveyance  of  pupils  to  an  efficient 
central  school.  People  who  now  live  in  the  city  that  they  may  give 
their  children  the  advantages  of  modern  schooling  would,  under 
the  centralization  system,  be  induced  to  go  to  the  country  if  they 
could  secure  the  advantages  they  now  do  in  the  large  centers.  There 
seems  to  be  some  evidence  of  this  forthcoming  already  from  the 
older  states,  as  New  Hampshire. 

It  is  claimed  again  by  many  that  it  would  be  a  severe  strain  upon 
a  child  to  ride  a  long  distance  each  day  to  and  from  a  central  school. 
Several  state  superintendents  who  sent  out  circulars  asking  for 
statements  of  opinion  on  the  matter  received  answers  to  the  effect 
that  children  would  have  to  endure  great  hardships  in  transit.  They 
would  have  to  ride  with  wet  feet;  they  would  be  improperly 
dressed  for  such  experiences,  etc.,  etc.  But  in  most  places  where 
the  plan  is  w^orking  the  children  have  no  opportunity  to  get  their 
feet  w'et.  The  carriage  calls  for  them  at  the  door  and  returns  them 
to  the  door.  The  old-fashioned  method  of  walking  a  mile  or  two  to 


SCHOOL  BUILDINGS  AND  GROUNDS  IN  NEBRASKA  239 

the  local  school  entailed  many  more  hardships  than  the  plan  of  riding 
in  properly  equipped  conveyances.  In  many  states  the  carriages 
have  means  of  heating  in  the  coldest  weather,  and  it  is  inserted  in 
the  contracts  that  those  who  engage  in  the  transportation  of  pupils 
shall  provide  warm  blankets  and  other  conveniences  for  all  children. 

Many  feel  again  that  they  do  not  want  their  children  to  be  so  far 
away  from  their  care  all  day.  But  in  the  local  school  they  are 
away  all  day,  and  the  average  parent  never  sees  the  school  from  one 
year's  end  to  the  other,  and  the  child  might  as  well  be  a  dozen  miles 
away  as  one ;  he  is  out  of  reach  anyway.  There  have  been  some 
fears  expressed  that  the  central  school  plan  would  result  in  injury 
to  the  morals  of  children,  since  bringing  so  many  together  would 
provide  opportunity  for  the  dissemination  of  bad  manners  and  vices ; 
but  quite  the  contrary  result  may  reasonably  be  expected  from  con- 
solidation. One  of  the  most  serious  defects  of  the  local  school  is 
due  to  the  unhealthful  suggestions  received  by  pupils  from  the  out- 
buildings. They  get  out  of  repair,  there  is  none  to  look  after  them, 
and  then  they  become  objects  for  the  pens  and  knives  of  those  whose 
minds  are  not  altogether  wholesome.  But  in  the  central  school, 
where  greater  care  would  be  exercised  in  these  matters,  this  source 
of  contagion  could  be  wholly  done  azvay  with.  Then,  with  better 
trained  teachers  and  with  suitable  provision  for  play  grounds,  the 
pupils  would  be  kept  together  under  conditions  which  would  de- 
velop the  best  in  them  instead  of  the  worst.  As  it  is  now  in  the 
local  school  the  children  run  together  without  guidance  or  sug- 
gestion from  the  teacher.  She  is  usually  incapable  of  leading  chil- 
dren in  their  out-of-door  life,  and  really  exercises  no  influence  over 
them ;  but  it  would  certainly  be  different  with  teachers  who  have 
had  some  training  in  the  ways  of  getting  hold  of  children  out  of 
school  as  well  as  in  it. 

The  advantages  of  such  a  system  are  numerous  and  vital.  Tn 
every  community  where  the  matter  has  been  investigated  it  has  been 
found  that  the  attendance  has  been  increased,  and  there  has  been 
less  truancy,  less  irregularity.  The  health  of  children  has  been 
imi)roved,  due  ]:)rincipally  to  more  healthful  condition  of  school 
buildings,  they  being  better  heated,  lighted,  ventilated  and  clcaneil. 
There  is  greater  incentive  and  enthusiasm  on  the  part  of  pupils 
when  they  are  brought  in  contact  with  others  out  of  tlicir  immedi- 
ate neighborhood.    The  whole  tone  of  the  school  life  is  improved; 


^40  SCflOOL  BUILDINGS  AND  GROUNDS  IN  NEBRASKA 

individual  pupils  get  to  know  a  larger  number  of  people  and  lose 
the  awkward,  bashful,  diffident  manner  characteristic  of  the  coun- 
try child  in  isolation.  This  plan  gives  an  opportunity  to  provide 
special  training  in  drawing  and  music  which  the  local  school  has 
to  do  without  absolutely.  Most  important  of  all,  this  plan  promotes 
social  growth  and  organization  through  the  unifying  influence  of 
the  children  coming  in  contact  with  larger  numbers,  and  the  inter- 
ests of  the  home  extending  out  to  a  broader  community.  The  farm 
becomes  less  isolated.  The  children  going  to  a  central  point  each 
day  will  bring  back  much  that  will  unite  any  one  farm  to  others  in 
a  broader  unity. 

— The  World  Review. 


I 

I 

I 


SCHOOL  BUILDINGS  AND  GROUNDS  IN  NEBRASKA  ^4! 


The  Centralized  Schools  of  Ohio 

REPORT    OF    A    VISIT    OF    SUPT.    O.    J.    KERN    OF    WINNEBAGO    COUNTY, 

(rOCKFORD)    ILLINOIS,   TO  THE  CENTRALIZED   SCHOOLS  OF 

OHIO,  OCTOBER,   I9OO 

It  was  an  extremely  interesting  and  profitable  trip.  So  numer- 
ous have  been  the  inquiries  for  information  concerning  the  im- 
proved system  for  district  schools  in  Ohio  that,  as  a  result,  this 
report  is  given  in  the  hopes  that  what  is  herein  described  of  our 
visit  to  Ohio  may  lead  to  better  things  for  Illinois.  Our  tour  of  in- 
spection was  through  Lake,  Ashtabula,  Trumbull  and  Geaugua 
counties,  some  of  the  finest  portion  of  the  Western  Reserve.  This 
country  was  originally  settled  by  people  from  the  New  England 
states.  We  were  received  with  utmost  kindness  wherever  we  went, 
and  no  pains  were  spared  to  make  our  visit  pleasant  and  profitable. 
Last,  but  not  least,  the  weather  was  all  that  could  be  desired,  and 
our  drives  over  a  beautiful  country  with  every  evidence  of  prosper- 
ity were  thoroughly  enjoyable.  Enough  frost  had  touched  the 
maples  to  make  the  leaves  scarlet  and  golden,  and  with  the  glimpses 
of  the  blue  waters  of  Lake  Erie  made  a  scene  never  to  be  forgotten. 

The  first  place  we  visited  was  Perry,  Lake  county,  where  there  is 
a  township  high  school.  The  Principal,  Prof.  Morrison,  is  a  pioneer 
in  the  matter  of  centralization.  He  assured  us  that  the  experiment 
was  no  longer  an  experiment,  that  the  new  movement  was  the  log- 
ical solution  of  the  country  school  problem,  and  that  centralization 
of  districts  with  transportation  of  pupils  had  come  to  stay.  It  gave 
much  better  schools  with  but  a  slight,  if  any,  increase  in  the  cost 
to  the  township.  The  opposition  to  the  plan  has  long  since  died 
out.  This  has  been  the  testimony  at  every  place  visited  thus  far. 
At  this  particular  place,  however,  there  was  only  one  wagon  draw- 
ing children.  So  we  drove  on  to  North  Madison,  in  Madison  town- 
ship, where  three  wagons  are  used.  On  our  way  there  we  saw  the 
first  wagon.  We  stopped  at  the  farm  house  and  talked  with  the 
driver.  He  carried  all  the  children  from  one  district,  about  twenty 
in  number.  His  route  was  five  miles  long.  That  is  to  say,  starting 
at  the  first  home  to  pick  up  a  child  until  he  arrived  at  the  central 
school  was  five  miles.     Then  he  drove  back  home  after  delivering 


^4^  SCHOOL  BUILDINGS  AND  GROUNDS  IN   NEBRASKA 

the  chiklroii,  tluis  covering  ten  miles  in  the  morning.  Of  course 
he  traveled  the  same  ground  after  school,  thus  making  twenty 
miles  in  all.  He  got  $1.20  a  day  for  his  work.  We  asked  him  if 
he  made  any  money  at  it.  He  said  he  did,  as  he  was  working  a 
small  farm  that  did  not  require  all  the  time  and  labor  of  himself 
and  team.  We  asked  him  if  he  had  any  trouble  with  the  children, 
and  he  replied  none.  He  said  he  was  employed  by  the  township 
board  of  education,  who  put  him  under  bond  to  be  careful  with  the 
children ;  to  have  a  safe  team ;  to  provide  a  suitable  wagon,  covered 
and  provided  with  curtains,  and  containing  soapstones  and  lap  robes 
for  the  severest  weather.  We  asked  what  objections  the  parents 
along  the  route  had  to  the  new  plan.  His  reply  was  that  the  only 
objection  was  on  the  part  of  two  or  three  at  the  beginning  of  the 
route,  as  they  had  to  get  their  children  ready  somewhat  earlier 
than  they  used  to  when  they  went  to  the  district  school.  Of  course 
the  children  must  be  ready  when  the  wagon  came.  He  aimed  to 
start  at  7  130  and  arrive  at  the  building  not  later  than  8 :45.  Thus 
there  were  no  children  tardy ;  none  came  with  wet  feet  or  clothing ; 
the  attendance  was  greatly  increased  and  much  more  regular.  The 
driver  believed  the  movement  had  come  to  stay ;  that  the  people 
would  not  consent  to  go  back  to  the  old  way.  A  short  distance  on 
towards  the  centralized  school  we  had  a  very  interesting  conversa- 
tion with  Mr.  Fuller,  a  member  of  the  Township  Board  of  Edu- 
cation. Mr.  Fuller  is  a  public-spirited,  prosperous  farmer,  and 
believed  in  giving  the  country  children  the  best  educational  advan- 
tages possible.  And  while  the  new  plan  did  not  materially  increase 
the  cost,  yet  the  amount  of  taxes  was  not  the  first  consideration. 
He  had  four  boys.  One  was  at  home  on  the  farm ;  another  was  in 
Delaware  University;  a  third  was  in  school  in  Cleveland,  while  the 
fourth  was  in  business  in  Cleveland.  His  girls  were  in  the  central- 
ized school.  He  knew  the  value  of  the  new  plan  and  was  sure  the 
people  would  not  go  back  to  the  old  method.  The  opposition  had 
long  since  died  out,  and  the  bitterest  opponents  three  or  four  years 
ago  are  now  the  most  enthusiastic  supporters.  They  have  seen  the 
value  of  a  well  graded  school,  with  good  teachers,  over  an  un- 
graded one,  with  cfttimes  indifferent  teachers.  We  visited  the 
schoolhouse  during  the  noon  hour  and  did  not  have  time  to  see  the 
school  in  operation.  We  next  drove  to  Unionville,  and  had  a 
pleasant  visit  at  a  two-room  school.     The  children  were  fine  speci- 


l; 


SCHOOL  BUILDINGS  AND  GROUNDS  IN  NEBRASKA  245 

mens  of  the  American  public  school.  The  Principal,  Mr.  Adams, 
was  township  superintendent  for  Madison  township,  and  has  had 
considerable  experience  with  centralized  schools.  His  testimony  as 
to  the  value  of  the  new  system  over  the  old  and  his  belief  in  the 
permanence  of  the  movement  were  stronger,  if  anything,  than  that 
which  we  had  heard  at  Perry  and  North  Madison.  The  cost  had 
not  been  increased. 

We  next  visited  Kingsville  in  Ashtabula  county,  401  miles  east 
of  Chicago.  This  was  our  farthest  point  east.  Kingsville  is  a 
small  village  with  a  township  high  school.  To  this  school  are 
brought  all  the  children  of  the  township,  with  the  exception  of  two 
districts.  Four  wagons  are  used,  at  a  cost  of  $20,  $25,  $24  and  $28 
per  month,  respectively,  for  a  month  of  twenty  days.  The  school 
year  is  nine  months.  Five  teachers  are  employed  in  the  building. 
The  testimony  of  the  principal  of  the  school,  the  town  clerk  and  Mr. 
Kinneer  of  the  Board  of  Education  was  that  there  was  an  actual 
saving  in  the  total  cost  to  the  township  under  the  new  plan ;  and 
while  money  was  expended  for  transportation  of  pupils,  it  was 
more  than  saved  in  the  fewer  number  of  schools  operated.  And  as 
to  the  increased  efficiency  of  the  new  centralized  school  over  the 
scattered  schools,  that  was  beyond  a  question  of  doubt. 

It  was  here  that  the  Ohio  plan  of  centralization  had  its  origin  in 
1892.  The  erection  of  a  new  building  in  one  of  the  districts  of 
Kingsville  township  brought  up  the  question  whether  or  not  it 
would  be  better  to  abandon  the  school  in  that  district  and  take  the 
children  to  the  village  school  at  the  general  expense.  In  this  first  case 
of  consolidation  in  Ohio  the  schools  were  centralized  at  the  village 
school,  a  village  situated  about  a  mile  and  a  half  from  the  railroad. 
The  results,  educationally,  in  the  small  .districts  were  far  from  sat- 
isfactory. In  order  to  consolidate  and  transport  children  at  public 
expense,  special  legislation  was  necessary.  So  the  Ohio  legislature 
passed  the  following  bill,  April  17,  1894: 

"Section  i.  Be  it  enacted  by  the  General  Assembly  of  Ohio, 
That  any  Board  of  Education  in  any  township,  which  by  the  census 
of  1890  had  a  population  not  less  than  1.710  or  more  than  1.715, 
of  any  county,  which  by  the  same  census  had  not  less  than  43,650. 
nor  more  than  43,660  inhabitants,  may,  at  their  discretion,  appro- 
priate funds  derived  from  the  school  tax  levy  of  said  township  for 
the  conveyance  of  pupils  in  sub-districts  from  their  homes  to  the 


246  SCHOOL  BUILDINGS  AND  GROUNDS  IN  NEBRASKA 

high  school  building  of  such  township ;  provided,  such  appropria- 
tion for  any  sub-district  shall  not  exceed  the  amount  necessary,  in 
the  judgment  of  the  board,  for  the  maintenance  of  a  teacher  in 
such  sub-district  for  tl.e  same  period  of  time." 

The  Ringsvilie  plan  proved  such  a  success  that  on  April  2y.  1896, 
the  Ohio  legislature  passed  a  bill  for  the  relief  of  the  counties  of 
Stark,  Ashtabula  and  Portage,  which  provided  that  the  Board  of 
Education  of  any  township  of  those  counties  may,  "when  in  its  opin- 
ion it  will  be  for  the  best  interest  of  the  pupils  in  any  sub-district, 
suspend  the  school  in  such  sub-district  and  provide  for  the  con- 
veyance of  said  pupils  to  such  other  district  or  districts  as  may  be 
convenient  for  them ;  the  cost  of  such  conveyance  to  be  paid  out  of 
the  contingent  ftind  of  said  district ;  provided,  the  board  of  any 
special  school  district  in  any  county  mentioned  above  may  provide 
for  the  conveyance  of  pupils  out  of  the  contingent  funds,  the  same 
as  townships  aforesaid." 

Since  then  a  general  law  has  been  enacted,  permitting  the  people 
of  any  township  at  the  annual  town  election  to  vote  "yes"  or  "no" 
on  the  proposition  to  centralize  the  schools  of  that  township ;  i.  e., 
to  abandon  the  small  districts  and  transport  the  children  at  public 
expense  to  the  central  school.  Such,  in  brief,  is  the  history  of  the 
legislation.  And  as  to  the  result  of  the  Kingsville  experiment,  I 
can  do  no  better  than  to  quote  from  the  Arena  for  July,  1859.  It 
was  a  beautiful  day  in  October,  1900,  that  we  visited  Kingsville,  and 
our  inspection  of  the  school,  our  conversation  with  the  teachers  and 
school  officers,  our  seeing  the  children  loaded  into  wagons  and 
driven  to  their  homes,  made  a  deep  impression  on  me,  at  least.  But 
the  quotation : 

"The  residents  of  the  sub-districts  of  Kingsville  township  which 
have  adopted  tnis  plan  would  deem  it  a  retrogression  to  go  back  to 
the  old  sub-district  plan.  It  has  given  the  school  system  of  Kings- 
ville an  individuality  which  makes  it  unique  and  progressive.  Pupils 
from  every  part  of  the  township  enjoy  a  graded  school  education, 
whether  they  live  in  the  most  remote  comer  of  the  township  or  at 
the  very  doors  of  the  central  school.  The  line  between  the  country 
bred  and  the  village  bred  youth  is  blotted  out.  They  study  the 
same  books,  are  competitors  for  the  same  honors  and  engage  in 
the  same  sports  and  pastimes.  This  mingling  of  the  pupils  from 
the  sub-districts  and  the  village  has  had  a  deepening  and  broadening 


SCHOOL  BUILDINGS  AND  GROUNDS  IN  NEBRASKA  249 

influence  on  the  former  without  any  disadvantage  to  the  latter. 
With  the  grading  of  the  school  and  the  larger  number  of  pupils 
have  come  teachers  of  a  more  highly  educated  class.  Higher 
branches  of  study  are  taught,  the  teachers  are  more  conversant  with 
the  needs  of  their  profession.  The  salaries  arc  higher;  the  health 
of  the  pupils  is  preserved,  because  they  are  not  compelled  to  walk 
to  school  in  slush,  snow  and  rain,  to  sit  with  damp,  and  perhaps  wet 
feet,  in  ill-ventilated  buildings.  Nor  is  there  any  lounging  by  the 
wayside.  As  the  use  of  indecent  and  obscene  language  is  pro- 
hibited in  the  wagons,  all  opportunities  for  quarreling  or  improper 
conduct  on  the  way  to  and  from  school  are  removed.  The  attend- 
ance is  larger,  and  in  the  sub-districts  which  have  taken  advantage 
of  the  plan  it  has  increased  from  50  to  150  per  cent  in  some  cases; 
truancy  is  unknown.  It  has  lengthened  the  school  years  for  a 
number  of  the  sub-districts ;  it  has  increased  the  demands  for  farms 
in  those  sub-districts  which  have  adopted  the  plan,  and  real  estate 
therein  is  reported  more  salable.  The  drivers  act  as  daily  mail 
carriers.  All  parts  of  the  township  have  been  brought  into  closer 
touch  and  sympathy.  The  cost  of  maintenance  is  less  than  that  of 
the  schools  under  the  sub-district  plan;  the  township  has  had  no 
schoolhouses  to  build ;  it  has  paid  less  for  repair  and  fuel.  Since 
the  schools  were  consolidated  the  incidental  expenses  have  de- 
creased from  $800  to  $1,100  per  year  to  from  $400  to  $600  per 
year.  In  the  first  three  years  following  its  adoption  Kingsville 
township  actually  saved  $1,000." 

We  left  Kingsville  feeling  that  we  had  traveled  nearly  500  miles 
to  a  good  purpose.  Before  leaving  we  had  an  amateur  photographer 
take  snap  shots  of  the  wagons,  children,  school  building  and  our- 
selves. [See  illustration  of  Centralized  School,  Kingsville,  Ashta- 
bula county,  Ohio.] 

The  schools  we  visited  in  Lake  and  Ashtabula  counties  were  vil- 
lage schools  with  the  children  brought  to  these  villages  from  the 
outlving  districts.  In  each  case  there  was  a  saving  of  expense. 
Superintendent  J.  R.  Adams  of  Madison  township,  Lake  county, 
whose  school  we  visited,  says  that  "under  the  new  plan  the  cost  of 
tuition  per  pupil,  on  the  basis  of  total  enrollment,  has  liceTT 
reduced  from  $16.00  to  $10.48;  on  the  basis  of  average  daily  at- 
tendance, from  $26.66  to  $16.07.  The  total  expense  will  he  about 
the  same  in  this  district  as  under  the  old  plan,  but  the  cost  per  pupil 


250  SCHOOL  BUILDINGS  AND  GROUNDS  IN  NEBRASKA 

will  be  much  less."  This  is  easily  explained  when  one  under- 
stands that  the  school  attendance  has  increased  from  217  to  300 
pupils  since  consolidation  has  been  effected. 

But  we  w'ished  to  find  centralized  schools  in  a  purely  country 
township,  where  there  was  no  village  or  village  school,  a  place 
where  country  life  was  being  preserved.  We  went  thirty-five  miles 
south  from  Ashtabula  and  visited  Gustavus  and  Green  townships 
in  Trumbull  county.  The  first  place  visited  was  Gustavus.  This 
township  is  exactly  five  miles  square,  as  are  all  the  townships  of  the 
Western  Reserve  with  the  exception  of  those  along  the  shore  of 
Lake  Erie.  In  Gustavus  township  the  town  hall  is  situated  exactly 
in  the  center  of  the  township,  as  is  the  case  in  Green  township. 
Here  was  a  church,  the  post-office,  a  country  store  and  a  few  houses. 

I  had  a  picture  of  the  centralized  school  of  Gustavus  township 
and  was  anxious  to  see  the  real  thing.  We  saw  it  and  all  was  as 
represented.  The  school  building  is  located  in  the  center  of  the 
township.  The  school  has  been  in  operation  two  years.  It  is  a 
four-room  school,  having  a  principal  and  three  assistants.  All  the 
children  of  the  township  are  brought  to  this  central  school,  and 
nine  wagons  are  employed  in  the  transportation.  [See  illustration 
of  Wagons  Used  in  the  Transportation  of  Children,  Gustavus  town- 
ship, Trumbull  county,  Ohio.] 

The  wagons  are  provided  with  curtains,  lap-robes,  soapstones, 
etc.,  for  severe  weather.  The  board  of  education  exercises  as  much 
care  in  the  selection  of  drivers  as  they  do  in  teachers.  The  contract 
for  each  route  is  let  out  to  the  lowest  responsible  bidder,  who  is 
under  bond  to  fulfil  his  obligations.  The  drivers  are  required  to 
have  the  children  on  the  school  grounds  at  8:45  a.m.,  which  does 
away  with  tardiness,  and  to  leave  for  home  at  3  45  p.m.  The  wag- 
ons call  at  every  farmhouse  where  there  are  school  children,  the 
children  thus  stepping  into  the  wagons  at  the  roadside  and  are  set 
down  upon  the  school  grounds.  There  is  no  tramping  through  the 
snow  and  mud,  and  the  attendance  is  much  increased  and  far  more 
regular.  With  the  children  under  the  control  of  a  responsible  driver 
there  is  no  opportunity  for  vicious  conversation  or  the  terrorizing 
of  the  little  ones  by  some  bully  as  they  trudge  homeward  through 
the  snow  and  mud  from  the  district  school. 

The  following  diagram  is  self-explanatory: 


r 


SCHOOL  BUILDINGS  A.\D  GROUNDS  IX   XliURASKA 


251 


\rarm    house,   no    children  \-hhanJtoneci  &chooi. 


■ *•  Utreci-ton    of    route  t. 

*  •    Starting  " 


SCALE  1  INCH    TO  THE  MILB 


Diagram  ok  GusTAvas  Townsiim',  TRiiMnarj,  Coitntv,  Oh  10, 
Showing  Transimjutation  Routks 


2^2  SCHOOL  BUILDINGS  AND  GROUNDS  IN   NEBRASKA 

The  average  price  per  day  per  wagon  is  $1.25  and  the  length  of 
the  longest  route  is  four  and  three  quarter  miles. 

During  the  school  year  1 898-1 899  there  were  enrolled  in  the 
grades  below  the  high  school  eighty-two  boys  and  fifty-two  girls ; 
in  the  high  school  room  seventeen  boys  and  thirty-five  girls ;  mak- 
ing a  total  in  the  building  of  186  pupils.  The  average  monthly 
enrollment  for  the  entire  school  the  past  year  was  163,  while  the 
average  daily  attendance  was  77.4  per  cent  of  the  total  enrollment. 
This  is  a  fact  of  great  significance.  The  children  are  regular  and 
are  getting  the  benefit  of  such  a  course.. 

Keep  in  mind  that  this  school  is  not  in  a* village  and  the  children 
are  scattered  over  twenty-five  square  miles  of  territory.  The  chil- 
dren are  not  tardy.  How  do  they  do  it?  you  ask.  Well,  they  do  it, 
and  that  is  enough  for  me.  Any  one  who  stands  in  that  building,  and 
looks  at  those  children  and  wagons,  must  be  convinced  that  here  is 
the  solution  of  the  country  school  problem,  because  this  problem 
is  being  solved  in  the  country  over  six  miles  from  the  nearest  rail- 
road. There  is  an  organ  in  every  room,  and  the  walls  are  being 
decorated  with  pictures.  They  have  started  a  library.  In  the  high 
school  room  were  fifty-two  enrolled,  with  fifty  present.  Here  was  an 
opportunity  for  the  big  boys  on  the  farm  to  get  higher  education 
and  still  be  at  home  evenings  secure  from  the  temptations  and  dis- 
sipations of  city  life.  They  rode  home  in  the  wagons  with  the 
children  of  the  lower  rooms,  and  thus  were  able  to  be  of  service  on 
the  farm. 

The  building  is  a  frame  structure  erected  at  a  cost  of  $3,000.  It 
is  heated  by  steam.  The  principal  gets  $80  per  month,  while  his 
assistants  each  receive  $27.50.  The  wages  of  the  assistants  should 
be  larger.  The  drivers  receive  respectively  ^22,  $30,  $18,  $25,  $30, 
$32,  $16,  $30  and  $17  per  month,  making  an  average  of  $1.25  per 
day.  Before  the  adoption  of  the  centralization  the  average  daily 
attendance  was  125  pupils.  It  has  increased  to  144  at  the  end  of  the 
second  year,  and  the  principal  told  us  the  attendance  is  increasing 
all  the  time.  Before  the  schools  were  centralized  the  cost  for  the 
entire  township  was  $2,900.  Now  it  is  $3,156,  being  an  increase  of 
only  $256  annually.  And  as  to  the  character  of  the  school,  who 
will  claim  that  the  nine  scattered  schools  were  doing  the  work  of  a 
well-graded  four-room  school?  There  is  absolutely  no  comparison. 
In  order  to  keep  up  the  school  and  pay  off  the  school  bonds,  the 


SCHOOL  BUILDINGS  AND  GROUNDS  IN  NEBRASKA 


^DO 


township  board  of  education  made  a  levy  of  nine  mills  on  a  valua- 
tion of  $373,000.  There  was  opposition  to  the  plan  at  first.  The 
people  who  were  opposed  simply  took  the  ground  that  the  thing 
had  not  been  done  and  therefore  could  not  be  done.  Just  as  there 
are  always  people  opposed  to  any  progress.  When  I  was  a  boy 
sensible  people  said  a  man  was  a  fool  to  think  about  binding  grain 
by  machinery.  They  were  not  ignorant !  they  were  simply  mis- 
taken. So  those  who  were  opposed  to  centralization  of  schools 
frankly  acknowledge  their  mistake  and  are  found  among  the 
staunchest  supporters.  We  have  found  this  true  every  place  we 
have  visited. 

A  special  committee  was  sent  from  an  adjoining  county  to  in- 
vestigate the  Gustavus  school.  The  committee  was  composed  of 
one  person  opposed  to  the  system  and  one  in  favor.  They  traveled 
over  the  township  and  talked  with  the  people  as  we  did.  In  their 
report,  out  of  fifty-four  families  interviewed  only  one  person  with 
children  was  opposed ;  seven  of  those  in  favor  were  formerly 
strongly  opposed,  while  none  that  were  first  in  favor  of  the  system 
are  now  opposed.  The  same  committee  adds:  "Although  the  sys- 
tem costs  a  little  more  (the  belief  is  that  it  is  cheaper  after  building 
is  paid  for)  yet  the  people  as  a  whole  are  highly  pleased  and  are 
very  enthusiastic  and  proud  of  their  schools.  Several  of  the  neigh- 
boring townships,  after  carefully  watching  the  system,  have  decided 
to  centralize,  and  the  growing  opinion  is  that  centralization  is  in 
harmony  with  educational  progress." 

The  committee's  report  is  certainly  correct.  Bear  in  miml  the 
roads  in  this  township  are  but  a  trifle,  if  any,  better  than  the  aver- 
age of  Winnebago  county.  In  fact,  two  or  three  townships  of  our 
county  have,  as  a  whole,  better  roads.  The  people  are  simply  de- 
termined to  have  better  schools  and  will  not  allow  obstacles  to  re- 
main in  the  way  of  their  children's  fullest  and  freest  development, 
even  if  it  does  cost  a  few  hundred  dollars  more  per  year  for  the 
entire  township.  What  would  $i,ooo  more  per  year  on  the  $373,000 
valuation  of  Gustavus  township  amount  to?  The  average  tax-payer 
would  not  know  it.  The  testimony  has  been  that  after  the  new 
school  building  has  been  paid  for  that  there  is  an  actual  saving  per 
capita  of  children  of  school  age  in  the  township.  Then  think  of 
the  superior  value  of  the  new  school  over  the  old.  It  cannot  be  a 
({uestion  of  a  few  hundred  dollars. 


254  SCIIUUL  lUll.DlXGS  AND  GKOL'NDS  IN    Ni:i!RASKA 

While  we  were  at  the  Gustavus  school  the  principal  advised  us  to 
drive  five  miles  to  the  west  into  Green  township,  where  the  people 
had  centralized  and  put  up  a  fine  new  brick  building  at  a  cost  of 
over  $6,000.  The  people  of  Green  township  had  watched  the  school 
in  Gustavus  township  for  two  years,  and  believed  so  thoroughly  in 
the  new  plan  that  at  the  last  April  election  voted  to  centralize  and 
bond  the  township  for  a  long  term  to  erect  a  new  building.  The 
vote  was  overwhelmingly  in  favor  of  the  new  school.  \\'e  drove 
west  to  the  center  of  Green  township,  which  is  five  miles  square. 
This  township  is  eleven  miles  from  one  railroad  and  six  miles  from 
another.  So  it  is  distinctively  rural.  To  be  sure,  there  is  the  town 
hall,  a  post-office,  a  church  or  two,  a  country  store  and  a  few  dwell- 
ings. That  is  Xew  England  brought  to  the  Western  Reserve.  We 
all  were  enthusiastic  over  this  building  for  country  children.  We 
never  saw  the  like  before  in  the  country  to  take  the  place  of  mis- 
erable box-car,  one-room  structures.  And  the  possibilities  of  such 
a  school,  who  can  measure  it?  [See  illustration  of  Central  School, 
Green  township,  Trumbull  county,  Ohio.] 

There  are  six  schoolrooms,  with  two  additional,  one  of  which  may 
serve  as  a  library  room  and  the  other  as  an  office  and  reception 
room.  There  is  a  basement  under  the  entire  building,  part  of  which 
may  be  utilized  for  laboratory  and  gymnasium.  The  building  is 
heated  by  steam. 

To  this  building  are  brought  all  the  children  of  the  entire  town- 
ship. The  educational  influence  of  this  building  over  that  of  eight  or 
nine  widely  scattered,  neglected  district  buildings  is  beyond  con- 
troversy, to  say  nothing  of  the  sanitary  improvement  in  the  way 
of  seating,  lighting,  heating  and  ventilation.  Such  a  building  may 
be  had  in  hundreds  of  townships  of  Illinois.  It  would  not  be  a 
burden  to  the  tax-payers  of  any  township  of  Winnebago  county. 
Bonds  could  be  issued  for  thirty  years'  time,  money  could  be  bor- 
rowed at  4  per  cent.  The  annual  interest  on  $6,000  at  4  per  cent 
would  be  $240,  an  amount  no  larger  than  the  repairs  on  seven  or 
eight  district  schoolhouses  from  year  to  year  if  kept  up  as  they 
should  be.  One-thirtieth  of  the  principal  or  $200  plus  the  annual 
interest,  $240,  would  make  a  total  cost  of  $440  for  building  pur- 
poses for  the  first  year,  decreasing  every  year  afterwards  as  bonds 
are  paid  off.  The  total  valuation  of  Owen  township,  according  to  the' 
Winnebago  county  Board  of  Review  for  1900  is,  real  estate  $253,- 


h 

1 

i 

r 

t 

f 

■  J 

t  -• 

1       « 

.k 

■; 

■•  1 

^  5>- ^   -,^ 


SCHOOL  BUILDINGS  AXt)  GROUNDS  IN  NEBRASKA  257 

622,  and  personal,  $310,038,  making  a  total  valuation  of  $563,660. 
An  annual  tax  of  $440  for  such  a  central  building  as  here  shown,  on 
a  valuation  such  as  the  township  of  Owen  has,  is  cheaper  in  the 
long  run  than  under  the  present  plan. 

They  began  this  school  in  September  last.  Ihe  enrollment  is 
180,  over  150  of  last  year  in  the  scattered  schools.  Four  teachers 
are  employed.  All  the  children  of  the  township  are  brought  to  the 
school,  and  eight  wagons  are  employed  in  the  transportation.  The 
campus  has  about  three  acres.  Shade  trees,  school  decoration, 
library,  etc.,  will  come.  How  that  school  can  be  made  the  social, 
literary  and  musical  center  of  the  entire  township !  What  an  in- 
spiration it  must  be  to  a  corps  of  teachers  to  work  in  such  a  com- 
munity as  that ! 

In  the  primary  room  were  all  the  little  ones  of  the  entire  town- 
ship in  a  beautiful  room,  while  in  the  high  school  room  were  many 
large  farmer  boys  getting  an  education  they  could  not  otherwise 
obtain.  On  the  playground  all  the  big  boys  of  the  township  play 
baseball.  Think  what  it  is  to  get  all  the  boys  of  a  township,  country 
boys,  I  mean,  on  one  playground.  They  will  grow  up  a  unity. 
Each  boy,  having  studied  and  played  with  other  boys  of  the  entire 
township,  will  be  stronger  for  it.  When  the  football  team  or  base- 
ball team  or  literary  contests  of  Green  township  can  compete  with 
Gustavus  townshij)  on  athletic  ground  or  in  town  hall,  each  team 
will  have  the  1)acking  of  an  enthusiastic  township.  In  a  great  many 
districts  there  are  hardly  enough  boys  to  play  "two  cornered  cat." 
Can  you  wonder  that  children  get  tired  of  district  school  after  a 
certain  age?  I  am  not  sure  that  I  have  yet  grasped  the  full  signifi- 
cance of  what  we  saw  here.  If  that  is  good  for  Ohio  boys,  why  not 
the  same  for  Illinois? 

The  day  sjxMit  at  Gustavus  and  (irecn  township  scIiddIs  was  by 
far  the  best  one  in  the  Western  Reserve.  As  far  as  educational 
matters  are  concerned  it  was  far  ahead  of  anything  I  had  ever 
seen. 

We  returned  to  yXshtabula,  fully  realizing  that  it  was  a  good 
day,  well  worth  our  coming  nearly  500  miles.  I  paid  a  visit  to 
Thompson  Center,  Geaugua  county.  They  did  not  have  centraliza- 
tion, but  the  special  district  plan,  a  modification.  It  is  not  so  goo<l 
as  centralization,  but  nuich  better  than  the  old  way.  They  now 
wish  they  had  complete  centralization  as  in  other  townships.     JUit 


258  SCHOOL  BUILDINGS  ANDGROUNDS  IN   NEBRASKA 

the  special  district  plan  was  the  best  they  could  do  then.  Certain 
sections  of  the  township  were  jealous  of  the  other,  and  after  the 
most  determined  opposition,  those  in  favor  of  better  schools  at  last, 
by  a  decree  of  the  probate  court,  succeeded  in  getting  two  districts 
consolidated.  A  new  schoolhouse  was  built ;  a  graded  school  was 
organized  with  three  teachers;  and  the  children  transported  them- 
selves. Now  instead  of  nine  small  schools  there  are  five  on  the 
special  district  plan.    They  expect  to  reduce  the  number. 

On  my  return  from  Thompson  Center  I  stopped  at  a  district 
schoolhouse  where  the  school  had  not  yet  been  centralized.  It  was 
a  small  building,  with  no  shade  trees  in  the  yard.  On  entering  the 
house  I  found  a  teacher  and  four  pupils.  There  were  no  more  in 
the  district.  I  asked  the  teacher  why  this  school  was  not  central- 
ized. She  replied  that  it  w^ould  be  next  year.  The  teacher  was 
getting  $30  a  month  to  teach  four  pupils.  She  said  that  for  the 
same  money  she  would  rather  teach  a  room  of  thirty  pupils  in  a 
graded  school  than  to  teach  the  four  she  had.  Besides  the  possi- 
bility in  the  way  of  enrichment  of  country  life  which  the  centralized 
school  promises,  it  also  will  bring  better  roads. 

At  the  Green  township  central  school,  where  the  new  $6,000 
brick  building  has  been  erected,  I  asked  a  high  school  class  how 
the  roads  were  when  they  were  bad.  A  young  lady  said  they  were 
real  bad,  w^hile  a  young  man  said  they  sometimes  found  it  neces- 
sary to  put  four  horses  to  the  wagon.  The  principal  said  the  peo- 
ple were  preparing  to  improve  the  principal  roads  over  which  the 
wagons  ran.    Thus  better  schools  bring  better  roads. 

On  my  return  from  Ohio  I  visited  the  Indianapolis  schools,  to 
learn  about  the  new  buildings  and  schoolroom  decoration  as  de- 
scribed in  School  Sanitation  and  Decoration,  a  new  book  being 
studied  by  Winnebago  county  teachers.  While  there  I  spent  half 
an  hour  with  State  Superintendent  Jones,  who  informed  me  that 
centralization  of  district  schools  is  going  on  in  some  parts  of  Indi- 
ana and  proving  satisfactory  in  the  main.  The  township  system 
prevails  in  this  state,  and  the  township  trustee  has  power  to  close 
small  schools  and  transport  the  children  at  public  expense.  Super- 
intendent Jones  was  busy  digesting  reports  from  all  his  county 
superintendents,  with  reference  to  the  subject  of  centralization  of 
county  schools,  thus  getting  matter  together  for  his  biennial  re- 
port to  the  governor. 


SCHOOL  BUILDINGS  AND  GROUNDS  IN  NEBRASKA 


259 


But  let  us  discuss  the  practicability  of  this  system  in  Winnebago 
county,  Illinois.  There  are  118  school  districts  in  the  county  out- 
side of  the  city  of  Rockford.  If  we  deduct  from  this  number  the 
six  village  and  two  suburban  districts  of  the  county  there  will  re- 
main no  one-room  country  schools.  Out  of  these  no  districts, 
from  reports  of  teachers  on  file  in  my  office  for  the  school  year  1899- 
1900,  there  are  five  districts  that  had  an  enrollment  of  exactly  ten 
pupils  for  the  entire  year;  thirteen  districts  had  an  enrollment  of 
fewer  than  ten  (three  of  the  thirteen  having  fewer  than  five  pupils)  ; 
while  one  school  has  been  closed,  there  being  only  one  pupil  in  the 
district.  The  cost  per  capita  is  very  high  in  such  cases,  to  say  noth- 
ing of  the  character  of  the  school.  From  the  reports  of  township 
treasurers  to  me  on  September  15,  1900,  I  give  the  following  from 
one  of  the  representative  townships  of  the  county  in  which  there  is 
no  village : 


Expendi- 
tures  for 
year  end- 
ing April 
1,  1930 

No  in  Dist. 

between  6 
and  21, June 

30,  19J0 

No.  enro\'d 
in  school 
for  year 

No.  months 
of  school 

Salary  of 

teacher  per 

month 

District     1   

$  378  53 
293  40 
314  75 
436  29 
321  15 
243  65 
194  80 

34 
26 
.33 
42 
47 
22 
51 

25 
21 
17 
28 
32 
12 
28 

8 

8 
9 
9 
9 

7 

$35 

District     "2 

30 

District    3 

30 

District     4 

35 

District    8 

30 

District    9 

30 

District  10 

25 

Total 

$2182  57 

255 

163 

av.  8 

av.$30 

Several  other  townships  have  reports  of  the  same  general  char- 
acter. From  the  above  table  will  be  seen  that  it  costs  $2,182.57  to 
educate  163  children  (for  none  of  this  expenditure  is  for  l)uilding 
purposes)  a  per  capita  of  $13.39.  O^  the  255  persons  of  school  age 
only  163  arc  in  the  district  schools.  A  few  may  go  to  the  Rockford 
high  school  or  business  college.  It  is  not  true  that  the  most  capable 
boys  and  girls  are  the  children  of  pareiit.s  of  the  most  means,  who 
are  thus  able  to  pay  board  and  tuition  at  a  distant  high  school,  while 
the  poor  children  can  never  hope  for  school  education  any  better 
than  the  common  country  school  affords. 

To  quote  from  an  article  by  "Taxpayer"  in  an  Ohio  paper  of 
December  26,   1899:  "We  believe   that   in  this  age   of  steam  and 


-''O  sriiODL  nriLDi  xr.s  ami  iiroinds  in  nkp.raska 

(-■Icciricity.  in  which  human  ins^ennity  and  hiunan  endurance  are 
taxed  to  the  utmost  and  in  which  the  echtcational  qualifications  were 
never  more  imperatively  demanded,  that  our  hoys  and  g-irls  of  the 
country  districts  should  have  educational  advantages  as  nearly 
equal  with  those  of  the  hoys  and  girls  of  the  city  or  special  district 
schools  as  possihle.  We  do  not  believe  that  the  centralized  system 
is  a  great  panacea  that  will  cure  all  the  ills  with  which  our  educa- 
tional system  is  afflicted,  but  w^e  do  believe  it  is  an  improvement 
over  the  old  methods ;  that  it  has  advantages  that  will  more  than 
repay  the  expense  and  inconvenience  incident  to  reorganization.  If 
centralization  is  a  good  thing,  we  want  it ;  if  it  is  not,  we  want  to 
know  why  it  is  not.  Because  some  one  we  know  is  in  favor  of  it, 
or  opposed  to  it,  is  not  sufficient  ground  upon  which  either  to  ap- 
prove or  condemn  it.  Let  us  investigate  it  thoroughly,  study  over  it 
carefully  and  form  conclusions  slowdy;  also,  in  forming  our  conclu- 
sions, let  us  be  careful  that  we  consider  the  merits  and  faults  of  the 
system  of  centralization,  and  that  we  do  not  approve  or  condemn  it 
on  account  of  merits  and  defects  that  do  not  arise  out  of  centraliza- 
tion itself,  but  exist  in  the  school  system  as  a  whole  or  arise  from  its 
sources." 

In  such  a  spirit  as  the  above  we  should  discuss  centralization  in 
relation  to  the  schools  of  Winnebago  county.  Xaturally  one  of  the 
first  considerations  will  be  the  condition  of  the  roads  for  the  trans- 
portation of  pupils  to  the  central  schools.  Two  or  three  townships 
in  \\'innebago  county  have  as  good  if  not  better  roads  than  those 
of  Gustavus  and  Green  townships,  Ohio,  where  the  experiment  is  a 
success.  Centralization  of  schools  and  free  delivery  of  mail  are 
bringing  better  roads,  which  are  needed  by  the  farmer  for  many 
things.  Under  present  conditions  our  farmers  manage  to  get  a 
load  of  milk  to  the  factory  over  the  w^orst  of  roads.  The  other  day 
I  saw  a  load  of  milk  being  drawn  by  three  horses,  while  over  the 
same  road  a  little  child  was  trudging  through  the  cold  and  mud  to 
the  little  old  schoolhouse.  The  creamery  was  fitted  up  with  im- 
proved machinery,  w^hile  the  schoolroom  was  lacking  in  nearly 
everything  that  goes  to  make  a  school.  Perhaps  there  is  money  in 
getting  a  load  of  milk  to  a  central  depot,  wdiile  there  is  no  money  in 
getting  a  load  of  children  to  a  central  school.  There  is  where  we 
are  mistaken.  Good  roads  and  a  central  graded  school  will  do  more 
to  keep  our  boys  on  the  farm  than  any  other  agencies.     To  quote 


SCHOOL  BUILDINGS  AND  GROUNDS  IN  NEBRASKA  261 

from  a  circular  received  today  with  reference  to  better  roads : 
"Under  the  inspiration  of  the  flag  we  love,  and  the  matchless  sys- 
tem of  free  popular  education,  the  youth  of  the  land  have  awakened 
to  the  possibilities  that  lie  within  them;  they  are  restless  and  pulsat- 
ing- with  energy ;  they  realize  that  this  is  an  age  of  mighty  possi- 
bilities, hence  their  intense  desire  to  keep  in  touch  with  the  outside 
and  everchanging  world.  The  youth  of  the  farm  dreams  and  longs 
for  the  intenser  life  of  the  city.  He  feels  an  almost  irresistible 
desire  to  get  closer  to  the  nerve  center.  He  is  not  content  to  be 
shut  in  mud-bound  for  weeks  and  months  at  a  time.  The  great  out- 
side world  is  calling  him,  and  his  nature  answers  the  call.  Country 
life  demands  and  must  speedily  have  free  rural  mail  deliveries  and 
the  daily  papers  delivered  on  the  date  of  publication ;  it  demands  the 
telephone ;  it  demands  above  everything  else  a  complete  system  of 
good,  hard,  every-day-in-the-year  roads.  They  make  country  life 
better  worth  living,  they  broaden,  educate  and  uplift  this  most  im- 
portant branch  of  the  commonwealth." 

With  the  free  transportation  of  children  our  youtli  can  be  edu- 
cated at  home ;  be  at  home  of  evenings  and  not  on  the  streets  of  a 
distant  city.  What  I  have  written  above  will  not  appeal  to  all. 
There  are  objectors  and  always  will  be.  Progress  is  rarely  along 
the  path  of  the  least  resistance.  The  opponents  of  the  movement 
in  Ohio  were  very  determined.  But  the  successful  operation  of  the 
system  has  won  their  approval.  It  is  possible,  I  suppose,  to  travel 
over  Illinois  and  find  people  who  are  opposed  to  better  schools,  espe- 
cially if  it  should  cost  a  few  cents  more  on  the  hundred  dollars.  It 
is  possible  to  find  people  in  Illinois  who  believe  in  1(jw  wages  for 
the  teachers,  short  school  terms,  with  no  library  books  or  api>aratus 
in  the  schoolroom  in  order  to  keep  down  taxes.  It  is  possibU-  to 
find  people  in  Illinois  who  don't  care  for  the  school  because  their 
children  are  gone.  r>ut  to  the  man,  rich  or  poor,  who  has  a  family 
of  growing  children,  living  in  a  country  district,  far  from  a  city,  any 
reasonable  proposition  to  better  the  educational  facilities  for  bis 
children  ought  to  receive  from  him  a  candid  consideration. 

Such  common-sense  reasons  as  the  following  nnist  appeal  to  tlu- 
great  majority  of  the  district  school  patrons  of  Wimiebago  county 
and  win  their  support  to  the  centralization  of  scbools,  tlie  logical 
step  to  improved  country  school  facilities : 

I.  By  centralization  all  the  children  of  a  township  can  be  broiiglit 


262  SCHOOL  CUILDINGS  AND  GROUNDS  IN   NEBRASKA 

together  in  one  building-,  and  thus  will  result  the  inspiration  that 
always  comes  from  numbers.  A  school  of  seven  or  eight  pupils  is 
not  calculated  to  stimulate  a  boy  or  girl  to  do  the  best  work  possible. 
With  only  one  in  a  class  there  is  no  competition,  that  rivalry  which 
calls  forth  all  the  powers  of  the  child.  By  centralization  strong 
classes  can  be  formed  and  thoroughly  graded  as  advancement  is 
made.  Such  classes  call  forth  the  best  efforts  of  the  members. 
Such  classification  and  gradation  furnish  longer  recitation  periods, 
thus  giving  the  teacher  more  time  for  instruction.  There  will  be 
uniformity  of  text-books,  thus  securing  unity  of  study. 

2.  By  centralization  there  will  be  fewer  but  better  teachers  in  our 
schools.  It  will  be  a  case  of  the  survival  of  the  fittest.  Better  sal- 
aries will  be  paid  those  who  do  teach,  thus  enabling  a  person  to 
make  it  possible  to  acquire  a  high  school  and  normal  training  before 
attempting  to  teach.  There  is  no  inducement  for  a  person  to  spend 
time  and  money  in  training  when  the  only  prospect  ahead  is  a  small 
school  at  a  salary  of  $20  or  $25  a  month,  for  six  or  seven  months  of 
the  year.  Many  directors  want  to  hire  a  cheap  teacher,  as  the  school 
has  only  a  few  scholars  and  it  costs  too  much  to  teach  those  few. 
When  a  person  teaches  for  $25  per  month,  does  his  own  janitor 
work,  pays  $10  or  $12  per  month. for  board,  the  sum  left  at  the  end 
of  each  month  is  not  such  as  w^ould  induce  a  normal  graduate  to 
take  up  such  a  school.  Of  course  a  small  school  is  expensive.  Thus 
in  one  district  in  Harlem  township  the  total  expenditures  for  year 
ending  April  i,  1900,  was  $233.60.  They  had  school  seven  months 
of  the  year  and  the  total  enrollment  was  4.  Thus  the  per  capita  cost 
for  education  on  the  enrollment  was  $58.40.  A  school  in  Burritt 
township  for  the  same  period  had  a  total  expenditure  of  $217.99 
for  a  seven  months  school  with  an  enrollment  of  8.  The  per  capita 
in  this  instance  is  $27.25.  A  school  in  Pecatonica  township  had  a 
total  expenditure  of  $158.03  for  seven  months  school,  with  an  en- 
rollment of  6.  The  per  capita  is  $26.34.  A  school  in  New  Milford 
township  had  a  total  expenditure  of  $269.65  for  eight  months  school, 
with  an  enrollment  of  10.  The  per  capita  was  $26.96.  And  so  on 
for  all  the  small  schools  of  the  county.  Thus  a  premium  is  put  on 
poorly  prepared  teachers  who  are  willing  to  teach  for  $20  per  month 
or  less.  Centralisation  zvill  decrease  the  cost  per  capita  for  educa- 
tion, give  longer  school  years  and  furnish  a  more  efficient  teaching 
force  at  better  salaries.     These  are  facts  that  cannot  be  disputed. 


SCHOOL  BUILDINGS  AND  GROUNDS  IN  NEBRASKA  263 

One  more  phase  of  the  financial  question.  The  following  figures 
show  the  inequalities  of  taxation.  One  district  levied  $176  on  a 
valuation  of  $38,835;  another,  $200  on  a  valuation  of  $31,422;  a 
third,  $230  on  a  valuation  of  $23,826;  a  fourth,  $200  on  a  valuation 
of  $64,250;  a  fifth,  $250  on  a  valuation  of  $12,696;  a  sixth,  $300 
on  a  valuation  of  $27,944;  a  seventh,  $150  on  a  valuation  of  $11,- 
052;  an  eighth,  $100  on  a  valuation  of  $32,154;  and  so  on  over  the 
county.*  Centralization  of  schools  will  equalize  the  cost  of  edu- 
cation. 

3.  By  centralization  all  the  children  of  the  township  have  the 
same  chance  for  higher  educational  advantages,  which  under  the 
present  plan  only  five  or  ten  per  cent  are  able  to  get  by  leaving  home 
and  going  to  the  city.  With  a  central  graded  school  and  a  high 
school  course  the  children  can  be  at  home  evenings  under  the  care 
of  their  parents.  The  people  of  the  country  districts  are  entitled  to 
receive  the  fullest  benefits  for  money  expended.  Better  means  of 
education,  better  training,  stronger  characters ;  the  possibility  of  all 
these  must  appeaf  to  every  parent  and  to  every  public-spirited  citizen 
of  any  community.  The  course  of  study  may  be  so  enriched  that  all 
of  the  farmer  boys  may  be  taught  some  of  the  fundamental  princi- 
ples of  agriculture,  horticulture,  etc.,  without  sending  them  away 
to  a  university  to  learn  what  may  be  learned  at  home.  Such  a  town- 
ship high  school,  with  good  teachers,  ought  to  be  able  to  teach  the 
boys  and  girls  something  about  formation,  composition  and  care  of 
the  soil ;  feeding  standards  and  selection  of  animals  for  the  dairy ; 
rotation  of  crops;  constituents  of  plants,  and  fruit  growing.  The 
State  Farmers'  Institute  of  Illinois  has  asked  that  the  country  school 
do  something  along  this  line.  In  obedience  to  their  request,  an  ele- 
mentary course  in  agriculture  has  been  added  to  the  state  course  of 
study  for  the- common  schools  of  Illinois.  The  farmers  of  Illinois 
are  doing  well  in  having  a  college  of  agriculture  built  up  in  connec- 
tion with  our  State  University  at  Champaign.  I'ut  don't  slop  there. 
Let  the  influence  of  that  work  extend  to  every  townshij)  in  the  way 
of  an  enriched  course  of  study  in  the  townshiji  union  graded  school, 
and  one  result  will  be  that  more  boys  and' girls  will  go  to  the  univer- 
sity. The  poor  man  who  has  been  able  to  send  his  children  only  to 
ungraded  district  schools  will  have  the  pleasure  of  seeing  his  chil- 


*  1  he  assessed  valuation  is  probably  nearer  the   real   valuation  in   Illinois  tlirin   it   is  in 
Nebraska. 


264  sniooT,  r.rii.niNGS  and  groitnds  in  Nebraska 

dren  given  the  l)est  education  the  township  can  afford,  and  that  at  a 
less  per  capita  cost  to  his  rich  neighbor  than  heretofore. 

4.  By  centralization  the  health  of  the  children  is  guarded.  With 
transportation  to  a  central  school  there  are  no  wet  feet  and  clothing 
and  consequent  sickness  and  impaired  constitutions.  Regularity  and 
promptness  of  attendance  are  secured.  These  things  do  affect  the 
character  of  children.  The  average  daily  attendance  is  so  increased 
that  as  a  result  from  25  to  35  per  cent  more  schooling  is  secured  in 
a  township  at  a  decrease  in  the  cost  per  capita. 

5.  By  centralization  we  go  a  long  ways  toward  the  solution  of 
the  problem,  "How  to  Keep  the  Boys  on  the  Farm."  We  bring  to 
the  farm  that  whicn  he  goes  to  the  city  and  town  to  secure.  Such  a 
school  may  become  the  social  and  intellectual  center  of  the  com- 
munity life.  With  a  library  room,  music,  debating  club,  etc.,  our 
boys  and  girls  wnll  hesitate  to  leave  home  and  such  a  school  for  the 
uncertainties  of  city  life. 

And  the  centralization  of  country  schools  has  a  most  vital  rela- 
tion to  the  cities.  It  is  just  as  important  that  there  be  good  schools 
surrounding  Rockford  (or  any  other  city)  as  it  is  that  there  be  good 
crops  or  good  roads.  I  can  do  no  better  than  quote  an  excellent 
editorial  from  the  Rockford  Register-Ga::ette  of  December  i,  1900, 
entitled 

A   NEW'    DAY  FOR   RURAL   SCHOOLS 

"The  city  as  w^ell  as  the  country  is  interested  in  the  new  question 
of  the  consolidation  of  the  country  schools  and  the  promotion  of 
their  efficiency  as  brought  about  by  that  policy.  The  changes  brought 
about  by  the  rural  free  mail  delivery  and  the  rural  electric  lines  are 
radical,  but  they  are  not  so  important  as  this  advance  in  the  char- 
acter of  the  schooling  offered  to  a  larger  part  of  the  rural  children. 

"The  interest  of  the  larger  centers  in  this  small  revolution  is  self- 
evident.  The  city  draws  about  half  of  its  best  men  from  the  coun- 
try and  is  dependent  on  the  country  for  their  healthful  constitu- 
tion, their  character  and  a  good  start,  including  schooling.  How 
many  a  young  man  has  felt  the  handicap  of  having  his  boyhood  for- 
tunes cast  where  a  small  school,  an  unfit  or  indifferent  teacher  and 
the  lack  of  rivalry  or  emulation  failed  to  arouse  his  interest  and 
threw  away  his  one  opportunity.  The  merging  of  half  a  dozen  or 
more  inefficient  country  schools  in  one  good  one,  with  large  attend- 


SCHOOL  BUILDINGS  AND  GROUNDS  IN  NEBRASKA  2t>5 

ance,  inviting  schoolhouse  and  well  systematized  and  graded  work 
is  a  complete  remedy  for  this  drawback,  in  so  far  as  good  schooling- 
can  remedy  it,  and  both  city  and  country  will  profit  by  the  results. 
"The  photographs  obtained  by  Superintendent  Kern  of  the  school 
accommodations  under  the  new  order  of  things  in  Ohio  and  of  the 
vans  which  convey  the  children  to  and  from  their  homes  are  a  dem- 
onstration to  the  eye  which  scarcely  needs  further  arguiuent.  The 
system  has  made  such  progress  in  ^  Massachusetts  that  it  is  now 
taken  for  granted.  Illinois  cannot  afford  to  be  behind  in  such  a 
procession  or  to  let  time  and  opportunity  run  to  waste.  Let  the 
young  people  and  the  children  take  it  up,  as  well  as  the  okler  mem- 
bers of  the  community  and  hurry  the  matter  forward.  The  legisla- 
ture has  something  to  do  in  the  premises.  It  were  well  if  no  time 
were  permitted  to  lapse  in  that  duty,  too." 

N^ow  if  Ohio,  Indiana,  Iowa,  Kansas,  Massachusetts  and  .\ew 
Jersey  can  centralize  and  transport  pu]Mls,  wh\-  nut  Illinois?  If  it 
be  important  that  the  country  boys  and  girls  of  those  states  be 
given  the  benefit  of  higher  educational  facilities,  why  not  the  \outh 
of  this  state  have  the  same  opportunities?  justly  have  we  prided 
ourselves  in  the  past  on  the  district  school.  Changing  conditions  of 
life,  the  demands  of  a  higher  civilization  demand  the  evolution  ol 
the  district  school, the  peo])le's  college, to  the  township  graded  school, 
the  people's  university.  Such  an  evolution  nuist  come.  The  spirit 
of  the  twentieth  century,  tiie  ins])iration  of  grander,  nobler  things  in 
national  thought  and  character  urge  us  to  make  the  most  of  our 
opportunities.  There  is  not  the  faintest  desire  on  my  pari  to  force 
this  system  upon  the  people.  I  have  not  the  power  and  would  not 
exercise  it  if  I  had.  There  must  l)e  further  legislatinn  on  the  sub- 
ject in  the  state  before  any  township  can  centralize,  providing  the 
l)eo])le  are  a  unit  in  favor  of  the  change.  My  <luly  is  to  find  belter 
methods,  to  inform  you  of  them,  yours  to  adopt  or  reject.  I  bo])e 
to  confer  with  you  in  your  scIkjoHiouscs  about  this  subject  during 
the  coming  months.  The  twentieth  ccntm-y  i)roblem  in  education  is 
the  evolution  of  the  country  schools  (with  all  (be  ])ossil)ililies  in  ibc 
way  of  the  enrichment  of  country  life),  the  better  training  of  coun- 
try youth,  the  hope,  the  salvation  of  American  deuKKracy. 


266  SCHOOL  BUILDINGS  AND  GROUNDS  IN   NEURASICA 


Tree-Planting  Reserves  for  Nebraska 

United  States  Department  of  Agriculture, 

Bureau  of  Forestry. 
Washington,  D.  C,  January  lo,  1902. 

The  investigation  of  Nebraska  forest  conditions  by  the  Bureau 
of  Forestry,  begun  early  in  the  summer  of  190 1,  has  been  brought  to 
a  close.  Much  valuable  information  has  been  secured  concerning 
the  natural  forests  of  the  state,  the  rate  of  tree  growth  and  the 
proper  species  for  planting.  The  investigation  covered  principally 
the  Platte  river  and  its  tributaries,  the  Pine  Ridge  district  and  the 
Sandhill  region.  The  agents  of  the  Bureau  in  making  this  exam- 
ination traversed  more  than  forty  counties. 

In  the  eastern  part  of  the  state  and  along  the  Platte  river  the  nat- 
ural timber  was  studied  with  reference  to  its  characer  and  tendency 
to  extend  its  area.  An  examination  was  also  made  of  the  growth  of 
planted  timber  both  on  bottom  and  upland  soil.  Special  attention 
was  paid  to  the  rate  of  growth,  reproduction  and  extension  of  area 
of  the  timber  in  Scotts  Bluff,  Sioux,  Dawes  and  other  northwest 
counties.  In  the  Sandhill  region  the  purpose  of  the  investigation 
was  to  determine  the  general  adaptability  to  timber  growth. 

As  a  result  of  the  investigation  the  Bureau  oflficials  are  satisfied 
that  if  the  proper  species  are  selected,  the  growling  of  forest  trees  in 
Nebraska  can  be  made  a  paying  investment,  especially  in  the  eastern 
part  of  the  state  and  along  the  streams  in  other  parts. 

The  agents  of  the  Bureau  of  Forestry  have  found  that  the  nat- 
ural forests  of  the  state  tend  to  extend  over  new  areas  rapidly  when 
protected  from  fire  and  grazing.  This  is  as  true  of  the  pine  in  the 
western  part  of  the  state  as  it  is  of  the  deciduous  timber  in  the  east- 
em  section. 

It  was  also  found  that  the  rate  of  growth  of  the  young  natural 
timber  in  the  western  half  of  the  state  is  fairly  rapid.  This  was  al- 
ready known  in  regard  to  the  timber  in  the  eastern  part  of  the  state, 
but  the  recent  investigation  determined  this  fact  for  the  pine  in  the 
western  section.  Many  measurements  of  young  trees  of  10  to  12 
inches  diameter  in  Scotts  Bluff,  Banner,  Sioux,  Dawes,  Sheridan 
and  Cherry  counties  showed  an  average  annual  diameter  in  growth 


'FOR  THE  SAKE  OF  A  LITTLE  CHILD' 


SCHOOL  BUILDINGS  AND  GROUNDS  IN  NEBRASKA  269 

of  one-sixth  to  one-quarter  inch — a  rate  fully  equal  to  that  of  the 
same  species  in  the  Black  Hills. 

The  officials  of  the  Bureau  are  convinced  that  the  Sandhills  can 
be  forested,  and  made  to  produce  valuable  timber.  The  tendency 
of  the  Sandhills  to  increase  in  woody  growth  is  regarded  by  all  who 
have  studied  them  as  strong  evidence  of  their  adaptability  to  timber. 
Natural  timber  has  been  found  growing  on  them  in  a  number  of 
places.  For  example,  both  pine  and  cedar  are  growing  in  typical 
Sandhills  along  the  Niobrara  river;  and  wherever  the  growth  is 
protected  from  fire  and  stock  it  increases  in  area  year  by  year.  At 
other  points  in  the  hills,  even  remote  from  streams,  clumps  of  both 
pine  and  hackberry  have  been  found.  In  addition  to  this,  experi- 
mental plantations  of  pine  in  the  Sandhills  have  grown  with  great 
vigor,  during  recent  years. 

The  forestation  of  the  Sandhills  has  seemed  so  feasible,  to  those 
who  have  studied  the  question,  that  for  several  years  a  proposition 
for  the  National  Government  to  reserve  large  areas  in  the  Sandhill 
region  for  forest  planting  has  been  gaining  many  advocates.  This 
plan  is  supported  by  many  of  the  public  men  of  Nebraska,  including 
the  Governor,  the  United  States  Senators  and  Representatives  from 
that  state  and  members  of  the  faculty  of  the  State  University,  and 
at  an  early  date  it  will  be  laid  before  the  Secretary  of  the  Interior. 
So  thoroughly  has  the  Bureau  of  Forestry  become  convinced  of  the 
practicability  of  foresting  the  Sandhills,  that  it  is  aiding  the  efforts 
to  secure  the  setting  aside  of  a  tree-planting  reserve  in  that  region. 

To  ascertain  whether  public  land  fs  available  for  the  proposed 
reserves,  the  Bureau  has  collected  data  from  the  different  land  of- 
fices of  the  state  for  the  preparation  of  a  map  showing  the  exact 
area  and  location  of  the  vacant  land.  This  map  will  Ix:  of  great 
value  in  locating  the  reserve. 

The  movement  for  a  tree-planting  reserve  in  the  Sandhills  is  gen- 
erally approved  by  the  people  of  Nebraska.  If  the  reserve  is  estab- 
lished, early  preparation  will  be  made  for  planting  on  such  n  ^r.dc 
as  will  be  of  great  benefit  to  the  entire  state. 

In  any  event  the  results  obtained  in  this  investigation  will  be  ol 
great  value  in  determining  future  plans  for  the  improvement  of  the 
forest  conditions  of  the  plains  region. 


270 


SCHOOL  BUILDINGS  AxND  GKOUiNUS  IN   NEBRASKA 


Statistical  Tables 

TABLE  I 

SCHOOI.H0USES  IN  NEBRASKA 


NO.  OF 

YEAR 

SCHOOL 
DISTRICTS 

WOOD 

BRICK 

STONE 

LOG 

SOD 

TOTAL 

1869.... 

377 

797 

74 

1870.... 

196 

16 

6 

80 

3 

301 

1873.... 

1863 

848 

46 

30 

138 

76 

1138 

1878 .... 

2690 
3271 
3834 

2231 

1881 .... 

2930 

1884.... 

2772 

92 

29 

122 

338 

a353 

1886.... 

4667 

3438 

176 

66 

220 

367 

4267 

1890.... 

6243 
6417 

4e55 
4932 

235 
242 

45 
31 

210 
184 

5937 

1891.... 

496 

5885 

1892.... 

6510 
6630 

5159 
5317 

39 
35 

188 
146 

528 
734 

6234 

1893... 

267 

6499 

1894 .... 

6641 

5385 

294 

31 

151 

732 

6593 

1895.... 

.6693 

5520 

293 

36 

140 

698 

6687 

1896.... 

6731 

5544 

298 

29 

159 

690 

6720 

1897.... 

6741 

5580 

302 

32 

159 

622 

6695 

1898.... 

6703 

5606 

304 

36 

137 

593 

6676 

1899.... 

6705 

5704 

313 

.33 

141 

517 

*6710 

1900.... 

6708 

5760 

312 

42 

112 

505 

t6733 

1901 . . . . 

6674 

5831 

320 

25 

132 

464 

J6773 

*  Includes  1  iron  and  1  baled  straw. 


f  Includes  2  iron. 


J  Includes  1  iron. 


SCHOOL  BUILDINGS  AND  GROUNDS  IN  NEBRASKA 


271 


TABLE  II 
DISTRICTS,  SCHOOLHOUSES,  TEXT-BOOKS,  APPARATUS,  TAX,  1901 


SCHOOLHOUSES 

m 

g 

in  oj 

- 

NUMBER   AND    MATERIAL 

C^     i2 

^ 

•§S 

0 

a%0 

■Si 
■^  be 

COUNTY 

0^ 

3  i- 

s 

u 

ii 

0 

0 

^ 

T3 
0 

"5 
0 

0.  we 
nisliec 
appar< 
maps, 
etc. 

6ll 

^11 

•sS 

z 

Ui 

m 

03 

^ 

tn 

H 

2 

^ 

2 

< 

2 

Totals... 

6674 

5831 

320 

25 

132 

464 

*6773 

188 

4849 

5944 

15 

900952 
Av.  135 

Adams 

80 

112 

39 

9 

79 

79 

110 

14 

2 

74 

10 
3 

89 

113 

30 

8 

79 

4 
4 

"2 
2 

75 
90 
13 
6 
70 

79 

100 

13 

9 

76 

13 

18 
lu 
18 
16 

13618 

Antelope . . . 
Banner  .... 

15976 

14 

2 
6 

1 

1699 

Blaine 

86^ 

Boone  

4 

11722 

Box  Butte . . 

62 

18 

2 

3 

32 

55 

3 

42 

54 

15 

5852 

Boyd 

68 

46 

1 

12 

59 

14 

36 

62 

22 

7371 

Brown 

41 

32 

2 

7 

3 

44 

5 

5 

40 

16 

4270 

Buffalo 

119 

123 

10 

134 

1 

68 

92 

18 

18274 

Burt 

69 

93 

100 

67 
92 
97 

5 

2 

15 

72 

94 

113 

'"2 

43 
94 
70 

62 

88 
88 

10 

15 

9 

10214 

Butler 

14409 

Cass 

1 

16743 

Cedar 

79 
59 

93 
30 

2 

95 
46 

1 

70 
30 

71 
46 

16 
17 

13151 

Chase 

15 

5017 

Cherry 

97 

40 

1 

5 

10 

57 

5 

30 

68 

15 

7026 

Cheyenne . . 

96 

32 

6 

6 

21 

65 

25 

71 

20 

6844 

Clay 

Colfax 

78 
61 
78 
250 
38 
92 

85 
63 
74 
141 
36 
45 

2 
9 

87 
64 
78 
244 
40 
70 

3 

2 

"i9 

70 
40 
73 
200 
38 
30 

77 
61 
65 
200 
38 
70 

15 
10 
12 
22 
12 
12 

13190 

9976 

Cuming 

Custer    .    . . 

12;i35 

101 

29198 

Dakota    . . . 

4 
3 

6117 

Dawes 

19 

3 

6425 

Dawson 

90 

102 

5 

4 

111 

4 

85 

70 

20 

12878 

Deuel 

60 
81 
83 
62 
59 

25 

79 
84 
71 
40 

24 

49 
81 
96 
110 
47 

2 
1 
5 
2 

36 
60 
69 
110 
30 

53 
78 
67 
62 
40 

16 
15 
15 
6 
13 

4421 

Dixon  

2 
12 
39 

1 

11740 

Dodge 

Douglas  . . . 
Dundy 

142(;.3 

1088;} 

6 

5(K;(5 

Fillmore  . . . 

91 
71 

92 
69 

2 

1 

94 

71 

75 
60 

91 
60 

14 

18 

Mi»7S 

Franklin. . . 

1 

10215 

Frontier  . . . 

109 

90 

0 

15 

107 

3 

50 

88 

2] 

13ns 

Furnas 

101 

95 

4 

1 

100 

2 

72 

95 

15 

1.3975 

Gage 

154 

150 

13 

1 

164 

1 

149 

152 

12 

24401 

Garfield 

24 

62 

6 

55 

9 
59 

4 
55 

i3 

3 
3 

1 

22 

62 

7 
57 

2 
.... 

4 

15 

53 

5 

46 

22 

56 

4 

56 

14 

18 

7 

17 

2332 

Gosper  

Grant 

8;i.50 

851 

Greeley 

1 

8351 

Hall 

72 
98 
80 
71 

73 

100 

79 

23 

6 
2 

3 

79 

102 

82 

48 

.... 

1 

2 

21 
50 
75 

m 

72 
JM) 
80 
45 

14 
18 
16 
11 

11713 

Hamilton  . . 

15539 

Harlan  .... 

11 !.-,() 

Hayes 

1 

24 

51  SI 

Hitchcock  . 

77 

51 

3 

1 

20 

75 

no 

77 

16 

SI  79 

Holt 

194 

175 

3 

8 

186 

4 

150 

183 

19 

20971 

Hooker 

3 

3 

3 

:{ 

:'. 

li. 

401 

*  Includes  one  iron  schoolhousc. 


2^2  SCHOOL  BUILDINGS  AND  GROUNDS  IN  NEBRASKA 

TABLE  \l— Continued 


i 

•3 

0 

SCHOOLHOUSES 

«  1 

II 

Wo 

|0.O 

0;;:; 
$° 

^"^^ 
< 

<n  a 

NUMBER  AND  MATERIAL         1 

V 

-  P3.a 

•a  0 

COUNTY 

a 

n 
u 

'C 

n 

a 
0 

3 

0 
'Ji 

Howard 

JefEerson  . . . 
Johnson  . . . 
Kearney  . . . 

Keith 

Keya  Paha. 
Kimball  . . . 

70 

100 
79 
69 
44 
56 
18 

107 

136 

107 
15 
22 
78 
10 
56 
63 
81 
91 

100 
76 
70 
76 
66 
78 
71 
82 

101 
59 

117 
40 

113 
32 
91 

105 
70 
30 
54 
97 
6 
23 
60 
56 
80 
79 
33 

102 

68 

104 

76 

68 

37 

23 

13 

121 

141 

103 

4 

13 

78 

2 
4 
2 
2 
1 

1 

71 

108 

79 

70 

44 

55 

15 

124 

157 

127 

*15 

21 

87 

6 

64 

64 

83 

93 

108 

78 

56 

77 

75 

84 

71 

85 

108 

60 

123 

44 

118 

20 

98 

93 

70 

23 

54 

102 

6 

27 

61 

63 

81 

83 

27 

106 

2 

1 
4 
1 

'"*6 

4 

2 

•3 

2 
2 
2 
3 

""2 
1 
2 
2 
5 
1 
3 
5 
1 
6 
1 
1 
1 

'"4 

2 

*5 

2 

'"2 
1 

"3 
3 
1 

48 
50 
60 
51 
40 
26 
15 
66 
148 

t 
8 
12 
53 
3 
30 
30 
60 
20 

101 
65 
42 
56 
65 
73 
54 
78 

108 
51 
98 
44 

104 
15 
86 
65 
61 
14 
54 
60 
5 
27 
45 
56 
76 
35 

70 
100 
79 
69 
44 
46 
16 
107 
134 
107 
15 
17 
62 
3 
56 
63 
68 
78 
54 
76 
54 
74 
65 
75 
70 
83 
74 
51 
114 
42 
99 
15 
65 
78 
63 
11 
54 
96 
5 
23 
62 
53 
74 
78 
25 
97 

16 
13 
12 
18 
17 
18 
17 
16 
11 
20 
18 
19 
14 
12 
13 
16 
10 
16 

8 

10 
16 
18 

9 
11 
16 
21 
11 
17 
16 
11 
13 
14 
11 
15 
18 
17 
13 
14 
23 
22 
17 
11 
13 
16 
17 
15 

10397 
15718 

1 

11875 

10s70 

'23 

6 
9 
2 

4435 
5068 
1961 

Knox 

2 
16 

1 

1 

14767 
22751 

Lincoln  

Logan  

Loup 

22 
10 

8 

12143 

1612 

1914 

9 

12018 

McPherson . 

6 

683 

61 
64 
69 
87 
89 
72 
43 
72 
72 
78 
70 
68 
97 
47 

114 
38 

114 
10 
96 
43 
63 
12 
53 
97 
3 

26 
56 
58 
81 
80 
25 

103 

3 

9023 

9986 

Nemaha  . . . 
Nuckolls. . . 

Otoe 

Pawnee 

Perkins  

Phelps 

12 
5 

18 
3 
1 
2 
3 
6 
1 
4 
9 

"9 

4 
4 
1 
2 
3 
1 

"i 

4 

2 
1 
1 
3 

'i2 
3 

12470 
14064 
16760 
12298 
4384 
11093 
10255 

Platte 

12609 

Polk 

10926 

Red  Willow 
Richardson 

Rock 

Saline 

Sarpy 

Saunders . . . 
Scotts  BluflF 

Seward 

Sheridan . . . 
Sherman. . . 

Sioux 

Stanton  .... 

Thayer 

Thomas 

Thurston  . . 

Valley 

Washington 

Wayne   

Webster  . . . 
Wheeler  . . . 
York 

"i 

ii 

13 

1 
2 

9948 
15545 

5300 
17946 

1 

6722 
18810 

1 

3 

5 

2429 
15135 

23 

"ii 

24 
6 

9172 
9012 
2572 
8116 

■'3 

14595 
759 

1 
3 
5 

3032 

2 

8772 
9463 

12674 

3 

11847 

2 

2959 

3 



79 

16644 

•  Includes  one  iron  schoolhouse. 
fNo  report. 


SCHOOL  BUILDINGS  AND  GROUNDS  IN  NEBRASKA 


273 


TABLE  ni 

SMALIv  SCHOOLS  IN  NEBRASKA 

A  detailed  statement  of  the  number  and  distribution  of  the  small  rural  schools 

in  Nebraska 

THE  problem:    wanted— a  solution 


COUNTY 


Adams  . .  . . 
Antelope. . 
Banner  .  . . 
Blaine  . . . . 
Boone  . . . . 
Box  Butte. 

Boyd 

Brown 

Buffalo  .  . . 

Burt 

Butler 

Cass 

Cedar 

Chase 

Cherry  . . . , 
Cheyenne 

Clay 

Colfax  . . . . 
Cuming. . , 
Custer  . . . . 
Dakota  . . , 
Dawes  . . . , 
Dawson  . . 

Deuel 

Dixon  . . . . 

Dodge  

Douglas  . 
Dundy  . .  . 
Fillmore  . 
Franklin  . 
Frontier  . 

Furnas 

Gage 

Garfitld.. 
Gosper ... 

Grant 

Greeley  . . 
Hall  ..... 
Hamilton 
Harlan  . . 
Hayes  . . . , 
Hitchcock 

Holt 

Hooker . . 
Howard . . 


ATTENDANCE 

ATTENDANCE 

ATTENDANCE 

OF  5  PUPILS 

ABOVE  5  BUT 

ABOVK  10  BUT 

ABOVE  l.i  BU  r 

NOT  MORE 

NOT  MORE 

NOT  MORE 

THAN  10 

THAN  15 

THAN  20 

1 

7 

It 

22 

9 

27 

35 

20 

9 

7 

4 

0 

2 

4 

2 

1 

2 

18 

25 

13 

12 

25 

13 

2 

1 

12 

19 

16 

3 

17 

11 

1 

6 

18 

44 

26 

1 

10 

22 

20 

2 

11 

16 

32 

2 

20 

25 

22 

5 

14 

16 

14 

11 

22 

9 

2 

5 

26 

14 

8 

25 

27 

16 

5 

2 

3 

21 

21 

2 

2 

12 

20 

1 

10 

20 

20 

19 

82 

70 

35 

0 

4 

17 

4 

15 

26 

13 

6 

6 

14 

23 

15 

15 

24 

7 

5 

1 

21 

19 

24 

0 

7 

29 

21 

1 

4 

14 

9 

8 

19 

10 

5 

1 

11 

17 

19 

7 

20 

14 

1 

6 

30 

33 

24 

2 

16 

39 

21 

3 

22 

55 

37 

2 

11 

5 

3 

4 

15 

19 

10 

0 

3 

1 

0 

6 

19 

15 

5 

2 

6 

20 

11 

2 

11 

33 

20 

2 

21 

24 

16 

9 

15 

13 

9 

11 

34 

16 

6 

58 

66 

29 

14 

1 

0 

1 

0 

1 

12 

15 

20 

-'74  Sl'HOor,  BUILDINGS  AND  C.ROl'NDS  IN   NF:r.RASKA 

TABLE  III— Coil  United 


Jefferson  ... 
Johnson  . . . , 
Kearney  ... 

Keith 

Keya  Paha. 
Kimball  . . . . 

Knox 

Lancaster  .  . 
Lincoln  .... 

Logan  

Loup 

Madison  ... 
McPherson . 

Merrick 

Nance  

Nemaha  ... 
Nuckolls . .  . 

Otoe 

Pawnee  .... 
Perkins  . . . . , 

i  helps , 

Pierce  

Platte 

Polk 

Red  Willow 
Richardson 

Rock 

Saline 

Sarpy 

Saunders 

Scotts   Bluff 

Seward  . 

Sheridan . . . 
Sherman  . . . 

Sioux 

Stanton 

Thayer 

Thomas  .... 
Thurston . . . 

Valley 

Washington 
Wayne  .... 
Webster  . . . 
Wheeler  . . . 
York 

Totals. 


ATTENDANCE 

OF  5  PUPILS 

OR  LESS 


2 
0 
0 

20 
5 
7 
6 
5 

17 
2 
1 
0 
2 
4 
6 
0 
5 
4 
3 

31 
3 
2 
5 
0 
9 
1 

10 
1 
1 
0 
3 
2 

18 
5 
4 
2 
4 
0 
0 
2 
0 
1 
0 

12 
1 


4t9 


ATTKNDANCE 

ABOVE  5  BUT 

NOT  MORE 

THAN  10 


16 
10 

7 
15 
24 

4 
22 

6 
30 

3 

9 
14 

2 

8 
18 

7 
19 
19 

6 
14 

7 
16 

8 

6 
23 
10 
21 
11 

4 

8 

5 
14 
39 
21 

9 

13 
13 

0 

5 
18 

4 
19 
11 

8 
13 


1352 


ATTENDANCE 

ABOVE  10.  BUT 

NOT  MORE 

THAN  15 


30 
23 
22 

4 
16 

1 
34 
32 
25 

6 

4 
20 

2 

13 
21 
25 
19 
34 
21 

4 
30 
22 
22 
18 
18 
24 
13 
32 

7 
19 

3 
32 
18 
21 

5 
15 
27 

0 

4 
20 

9 

30 
25 

4 
24 


1687 


ATTENDANCE 

ABOVE  15  BUT 

NOT  MORE 

THAN  20 


SCHOOL  BUILDINGS  AND  GROUNDS  IN  NEBRASKA  275 

These  statistics  are  taken  from  the  annual  reports  of  the  count}-  superintend- 
ents of  Nebraska  for  the  school  year  1900-1901.  They  show  that  the  small 
schools  are  greater  in  number  than  most  of  us  knew.  There  are  489  schools 
with  an  average  daily  attendance  of  five  or  less;  1,841  with  ten  or  less;  3,528 
with  fifteen  or  less;  4,771  with  twenty  or  less.  There  are  about  6,300  strictly 
rural  school  districts  in  Nebraska.  This  makes  nearly  three-fourths  of  our  rural 
schools  in  each  of  which  is  an  average  daily  attendance  too  small  for  vigorous, 
interesting  and  profitable  work,  either  educationally  and  socially  or  financially. 
No  time  need  be  spent  in  rehearsing  these  facts.  No  school  can  claim  condi- 
tions for  good  work  if  it  have  less  than  twenty-five  pupils;  yet  there  are  4,771 
rural  schools  in  Nebras.ca  in  operation  with  an  average  daily  attendance  rang- 
ing from  one  to  twenty  pupils.  I  believe  we  are  all  ready  to  unite  upon  this 
proposition — the  pupils  in  these  small  rural  schools  must  be  collected  into 
larger  and  better  schools  with  better  teachers,  better  paid.  "  It  does  not  mat- 
ter how  much  we  deplore  the  condition  which  makes  consolidation  of  schools 
necessary,  the  fact  remains  that  it  is  the  only  rational  solution  of  the  question 
that  has  been  offered." 

WILLIAM  K.  FOWLER, 

State  Superintendettt. 
Lincoln,  Nebr.,  December  31,  1901. 


^yCi  SCHOOL  BUILDINGS  AND  GROUNDS  IN  NEBRASKA 


References — Publications 

SCHOOL  ARCHITECTURE.  By  Edmund  M.  Wheelwright. 
Rogers  &  IManson,  Boston.  Size,  7^  by  103^  ins.  350  pp.  250 
illus.     1901.    Price,  $5  delivered. 

In  1898-1900  there  appeared  in  The  Brickbuilder  a  series  of  papers 
on  "The  American  Schoolhoiise,"  by  Edmund  M.  Wheelwright. 
The  success  of  these  papers  suggested  the  publication  of  this  book, 
in  which  the  original  material  has  been  recast  and  the  scope  of  the 
sdbject  has  been  greatly  wndened. 

Many  American  schools  not  considered  in  the  original  papers  are 
illustrated  and  described,  but  the  work  is  especially  enriched  from 
foreign  sources.  Examples  are  presented  of  the  most  typical  and 
practically  suggestive  schools  of  Germany,  Austria,  Switzerland, 
the  Scandinavian  countries,  England  and  France,  the  subject  being 
more  comprehensively  treated  than  in  any  book  heretofore  pub- 
lished. All  details  of  school  construction  are  considered,  yet  the 
information  is  studiously  condensed  within  the  limits  of  a  convenient 
handbook,  which  is  made  readily  accessible  by  an  unusually  full 
index. 

MODERN  AMERICAN  SCHOOL  BUILDINGS.  By  Warren 
Richard  Briggs.  John  Wiley  &  Sons,  New  York.  412  pp.  89  full 
page  illus.     1899. 

SCHOOL  SANITATION  AND  DECORATION.  By  Burrage 
and  Bailey.  D.  C.  Heath  &  Co.,  Chicago.  192  pp.  88  illus.  1899. 
$1.20  postpaid. 

SCHOOL  HYGIENE.  By  Edward  R.  Shaw.  The  Macmillan 
Co.,  Chicago.    260  pp.     1901. 

PHYSICAL  CULTURE.  By  B.  F.  Johnson.  B.  F.  Johnson 
Publishing  Co.,  Richmond,  Va.     137  pp.     1900. 

SCHOOL  INTERESTS  AND  DUTIES.  By  Robert  M.  King. 
The  American  Book  Co.,  Chicago.  336  pp.  1894.  This  book  con- 
tains, among  other  things,  one  chapter  on  School  Architecture  and 
another  on  School  Hygiene. 

RECENT  SCHOOL  ARCHITECTURE.  Selected  Reprints 
from  the  Annual  Reports  of  Charles  R.  Skinner,  State  Superin- 
tendent of  Public  Instruction,  New  York.     1897. 


SCHOOL  BUILDINGS  AND  GROUNDS  IN  NEBRASKA  277 

REPORT  OF  A  VISIT  TO  THE  CENTRALIZED  SCHOOLS 
OF  OHIO.  October,  1900.  By  O.  J.  Kern,  County  Superintendent, 
Rockforcl,  Winnebago  County,  Illinois. 

CONSOLIDATION  OF  DISTRICTS  AND  TRANSPORTA- 
TION OF  CHILDREN,  Chapter  II  of  the  Biennial  Report  of  the 
Superintendent  of  Public  Instruction  of  the  State  of  Iowa.    1901. 

RURAL  SCHOOL  ARCHITECTURE.  State  of  Minnesota, 
Department  of  Public  Instruction.     1900.' 

SKETCHES,  DESIGNS  AND  PLANS  FOR  SCHOOL 
BUILDINGS,  SCHOOL  YARDS  AND  OUTHOUSES.  State 
Superintendent  of  Public  Schools,  State  of  Maine.     1897. 

SANITARY  CONDITIONS  FOR  SCHOOLHOUSES.  By 
Albert  P.  Marble,  Worcester,  Mass.  Bureau  of  Education,  Wash- 
ington, D.  C.     1 89 1. 

BIENNIAL  REPORT  OF  THE  COUNTY  SUPERINTEN- 
DENT OF  SCHOOLS,  COOK  COUNTY,  ILLINOIS.  By  Supt. 
Orville  T.  Bright,  Biennium  ended  June  30,  1900. 

THE  CONSOLIDATION  OF  COUNTRY  SCHOOLS,  AND 
THE  TRANSPORTING  OF  THE  SCHOLARS  BY  USE  OF 
VANS.  Bulletin  No.  71,  Department  of  Agriculture,  Common- 
wealth of  Pennsylvania.     Harrisburg,  1901. 

DESIGNS  FOR  SCHOOLHOUSES,  accepted  by  the  Depart- 
ment of  Public  Instruction  of  the  State  of  New  York.  Charles  R. 
.Skinner,  State  Superintendent.    Albany,  1895. 

TREE  PLANTING  ON  RURAL  SCHOOL  GROUNDS, 
(Farmers'  Bulletin  No.  134)  by  Wm.  L.  Hall,  Asst.  Supt.  of  Tree 
Planting,  Bureau  of  Forestry,  U.  S.  Dept.  of  Agriculture,  Wash- 
ington, D.  C.    $0.00. 

HINTS  ON  RURAL  SCHOOL  GROUNDS,  by  L.  H.  Bailey, 
Bulletin  No.  160  (January,  1899)  of  the  Cornell  University  Agri- 
cultural Experiment  Station,  Horticultural  Division,  Ithaca,  N.  Y. 
$0.00. 

BEAUTIFY  THE  SCHOOL  GROUNDS,  The  Youth's  Com- 
panion.   $0.00. 

IDEAL  PUBLIC  SCHOOLS,  The  Youth's  Companion.   $0.00. 

HOW  TO  SET  OUT  TREES  AND  SHRUBBERY.  The 
Youth's  Companion.    $0.00, 


2^8  SCHOOL  BUILDINGS  AND  GROUNDS  IN  NEBRASKA 

HOW  TO  ENJOY  PICTURES.  By  M.  S.  Emery.  With  a  spec- 
ial chapter  on  pictures  in  the  schoolroom,  by  Stella  Skinner.  The 
Pranof  Educational  Co.,  Chicago.    1898.    $1.50. 

THE  \ENTH.ATION  AND  WARxAHNG  OF  SCHOOL 
BUILDINGS.  By  Gilbert  B.  Morrison.  Volume  IV  of  the  Interna- 
tional Education  Series  edited  by  Dr.  William  T.  Harris,  U.  S.  Com- 
missioner of  Education,  Washington,  D.  C.  D.  Appleton  &  Co., 
New  York.     1901.    $1.00. 

HAND-BOOK  OF  SANITARY  INFORMATION  FOR 
HOUSEHOLDERS.  By  Roger  S.  Tracy,  M.  D.  D.  Appleton  & 
Co.,  New  York,  1900. 

LECTURES  ON  SCHOOL  HYGIENE.  Ginn  &  Co.,  Chicago. 
1886. 

SANITARY  DUSTLESS  FLOOR  BRUSH,  manufactured  in 
Milwaukee,  Wis.,  is  a  valuable  aid  in  schoolroom  sanitation. 


UNIVERSITY  OF  CALIFORNIA  LIBRARY 

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